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BERICcLEY 

LIBRARY 

UNIVEW(TY  OF 


xf^ 


ELY    LECTURES. 


THE  EVIDENCES  OF  CHRISTIANITY  IN  THE  NINETEENTH 
CENTURY.     By  Rev.  Albert  Barnes,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  POSITIVISM.  By  Rev.  James  McCosh, 
D.D.,  LL.D. 

COMPARATIVE  EVIDENCES  OF  SCIENCE  AND  CHRISTI- 
ANITY.    By  Rev.  A.  P.  Peabody,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

THE  DIVINE  ORIGIN  OF  CHRISTIANITY  INDICATED  BY 
ITS  HISTORICAL  EFFECTS.  By  Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs, 
D.D.,  LL.D. 

PHILOSOPHY  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  By  Professor  George  S. 
Morris,  Ph.D. 

THE  MIRACULOUS  ELEMENT  IN  THE  GOSPELS.  By 
Professor  A.  V^.  Bruce,  D.D. 

THE  EVIDENCE  OF  CHRISTIAN  EXPERIENCE.  By  Rev. 
Lewis  F.  Stearns,  D.D. 

ORIENTAL  RELIGIONS  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  By  Rev.  Frank 
F.  Ellinwcod,  D.D. 

THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM.     By  Rev.  Henry  Preserved  Smith,  D.D. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 


THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

OR 

The  Influence  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
ON  THE  Religion  of  Mohammed 


BEING 

THE  ELY  LECttl^^  FOR   1897 
1^  i^xSuSKED 


HENRY  PRESERVED   SMITH,  D.D. 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1897 


Copyright,  1897,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


LOAN  STACK 


TROW  DIRECTORY 

PRINTING  AND   BOOKBINDING  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK 


^0 
THE  MEMORY  OF 

PRESERVED  SMITH 

AND 

LUCY   MAYO   SMITH 


5Fi7. 

c)(o 


306 


THE  ELY  FOUNDATION 

The  lectures  contained  in  this  Yolume  were  deliv- 
ered to  the  students  of  Union  Theological  Seminary 
in  the  spring  of  the  year  1897,  as  one  of  the  courses 
established  in  the  Seminary  by  Mr.  Zebulon  Stiles 
Ely,  in  the  following  terms : 

"  The  undersigned  gives  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars to  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  the  City  of  New 
York  to  found  a  lectureship  in  the  same,  the  title  of  which 
shall  be  The  Elias  P.  Ely  Lectures  on  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity. 

**The  course  of  lectures  given  on  this  Foundation  is  to 
comprise  any  topics  serving  to  establish  the  proposition 
that  Christianity  is  a  religion  from  God,  or  that  it  is  the 
perfect  and  final  form  of  religion  for  man. 

** Among  the  subjects  discussed  may  be:  The  Nature 
and  Need  of  a  Revelation ;  The  Character  and  Influence 
of  Christ  and  His  Apostles ;  The  Authenticity  and  Credi- 
bility of  the  Scriptures,  Miracles,  and  Prophecy ;  The  Dif- 
fusion and  Benefits  of  Christianity,  and  The  Philosophy  of 
Religion  in  its  Relations  to  the  Christian  System. 

"Upon  one  or  more  of  such  subjects  a  course  of  ten 
public  lectures  shall  be  given,  at  least  once  in  two  or  three 
years.  The  appointment  of  the  lecturers  is  to  be  by  the 
concurrent  action  of  the  Fa^cultj^  and  Directors  of  said 
Seminary  and  the  undersigned,  and  it  shall  ordinarily  be 
made  two  years  in  advance. ' ' 


PREFACE 

The  importance  and  the  timeliness  of  the  subject 
treated  in  these  lectures  are  sufficiently  eyident.  As 
to  the  method  of  treatment,  I  leave  the  reader  to 
judge.  The  references  given  are  sufficient  to  show- 
how  far  I  have  gone  to  the  sources.  The  citations 
from  the  Koran  may  be  thought  too  extensive.  My 
only  defence  is  that  I  could  not  well  have  left  any 
out ;  in  fact,  I  have  considerably  reduced  the  num- 
ber contained  in  the  first  draft  of  the  lectures. 

The  Arabic  words  transcribed  are  not  numerous, 
and  the  most  of  them  are  already  current  in  Eng- 
lish. I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  make  any 
change  in  these,  nor  to  attempt  an  exact  transliter- 
ation. 

I  have  been  favored  with  the  loan  of  books  from 
the  Yale  University  library,  the  library  of  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  and  the  library  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Princeton.  It  gives  me  pleas- 
ure to  acknowledge  this  courtesy  in  this  public 
manner. 

Lakewood,  N.  J. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

LECTUEE  I. 

THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH 

In  the  seventh  century  of  our  era  Christianity 
seemed  triumphant  over  its  enemies  in  the  Eastern 
Empire.  Paganism  was  destroyed,  the  heresies  had 
been  overcome,  the  faith  had  received  its  full  definition 
in  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  final  creed.  The  bish- 
ops and  monks,  at  least,  might  be  justified  in  suppos- 
ing that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  already  established. 
In  the  reign  of  Heraclius  the  political  situation  was 
almost  as  promising  as  the  ecclesiastical.  For  that 
monarch,  with  almost  Eoman  energy,  repulsed  the 
Persians,  the  hereditary  foes  of  Byzantium,  and  ex- 
tended the  bounds  of  the  empire  almost  to  the  point 
which  they  had  reached  in  the  days  when  the  state 
was  Koman  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name.  In  this  pe- 
riod of  triumph  and  of  apparent  prosperity  no  one 
could  have  foretold  the  appearance  of  a  new  power 
upon  the  scene — a  power  which  would  threaten  the 
whole  fabric  of  civilization  and  change  the  map  of 
the  known  world.  Yet  such  a  power  appeared,  over- 
came the  armies  sent  against  it,  and  with  unexampled 


2  TEE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

rapidity  took  possession  of  the  "fairest  provinces  of 
the  East. 

Until  this  time  Arabia  had  not  played  a  leading 
part  in  the  drama  of  history.  All  earlier  knowledge 
of  this  country  shows  its  inhabitants  to  be  scattered 
tribes  separated  by  their  deserts  and  by  their  mutual 
hostility.  Persia  and  Byzantium  had  indeed  welded 
the  clans  nearest  their  borders  into  petty  kingdoms 
which  they  used  each  to  annoy  the  other.  But  of 
Arabia  as  a  single  power  they  did  not  dream.  Oc- 
casional forays  of  the  bold  desert  dwellers  in  search 
of  booty  they  were  accustomed  to  suffer.  Noio  there 
came  the  invasion  of  a  new  created  nation.  The 
scattered  Bedawin  were  fired  by  a  single  purpose. 
Attila,  the  Scourge  of  God,  was  overmatched  by 
Chalid,  the  Sword  of  God,  and  this  terrible  weapon 
hewed  the  devoted  provinces  of  the  East  with  tire- 
less energy.  Syria  and  Egypt  fell  at  a  single  blow. 
Babylonia  and  Persia  followed  in  an  instant.  In  less 
than  half  a  century  from  the  time  when  Mohammed 
fled  with  a  single  companion  from  Mecca,  the  arms  of 
his  followers  were  triumphant  from  the  Oxus  to  the 
site  of  Carthage.  In  another  half  century  they  had 
crossed  the  borders  of  India  on  the  east,  and  to  the 
west  were  checked  only  by  the  waves  of  the  Atlantic. 
Their  conquest  of  Spain  and  invasion  of  France  are 
facts  familiar  to  you,  as  is  the  battle  of  Tours  or 
Poitiers  by  which  Charles  Martel  preserved  to  Europe 
Bom  an  Christianity  and  the  civilization  with  which 
it  was  allied. 

That  such  a  movement  deserves  the  attention  of 
all  students  of  history,  is  the   merest  truism.     Its 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  3 

political  importance  alone,  however,  would  not  make 
it  the  proper  subject  of  this  course  of  lectures.  What 
makes  it  appropriate  for  this  place  and  this  occasion 
is  its  religious  character.  In  this,  to  be  sure,  it  is  not 
unique.  Many,  I  might  say  most,  of  the  great  move- 
ments of  history  have  been  religious.  But  few  if  any 
have  shown  their  religious  character  so  distinctly  as 
the  one  before  us.  It  calls  itself  by  a  religious  name 
when  it  calls  itself  Islam,  for  Islam  means  resignatioa., 
to  the  will  of  God.  The  war  cry  of  the  clans  which 
crushed  the  arms  of  Byzantium  was  a  profession  of 
faith—"  There  is  no  God  but  Allah,  and  Moham- 
med is  the  Apostle  of  Allah."  Islam  has  never  denied 
or  outgrow^n  its  religious  character,  for  the  same  pro- 
fession of  faith  is  to  this  day  repeated  by  one-tenth 
of  the  human  race.  Politically  we  may  think  it  no 
longer  formidable,  but  religiously  it  seems  as  strong 
as  ever.  With  obstinate  confidence  in  its  own  posses- 
sion of  the  truth  it  resists  the  preaching  of  the  Chris- 
tian missionary,  while  itself  sending  missionaries  into 
heathen  lands.  Because  of  this  tenacity  it  must  be 
reckoned  with  as  a  living  force.  Its  dynasties  may 
become  extinct ;  its  kingdoms  may  fall  into  the 
hands  of  foreigners  ;  but  ideas  do  not  yield  to  force. 
They  are  not  subjugated  by  the  heavier  artillery  or 
crushed  by  the  stronger  battalions.  Material  forces 
enable  Great  Britain  to  govern  the  empire  of  the 
Great  Mogul ;  they  put  Holland  into  possession  of 
the  Malay  archipelago,  and  give  France  control  of  Al- 
giers. But  the  real  power  which  holds  the  hearts  of 
the  people  in  all  these  regions  is  the  idea  of  Allah 
and  His  Apostle.     For  a  long  time   now  we   have 


4  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

flattered  ourselves  with  hopes  of  the  regeneration  of 
the  East,  because  a  few  young  men  in  Constantinople 
have  a  varnish  of  Western  education  and  of  Western 
manners.  The  illusion  has  vanished  and  we  see  that 
the  mass  of  the  people  are  living  in  the  ideas  of  a 
thousand  years  ago.  There  may  be  a  more  agree- 
able, there  could  scarcely  be  a  more  convincing,  ex- 
ami^le  of  the  tenacity  of  religion. 

In  a  certain  sense,  our  own  time  is  able  to  appre- 
ciate the  nature  of  this  force  as  no  preceding  age  has 
appreciated  it.  We  have  begun  to  see  that  there  is  a 
science  of  religion — a  science  which  deals  both  with 
the  history  and  with  the  philosophy  of  religion.  And 
yet  it  is  too  much  to  say  that  this  point  of  view  is 
universally  recognized.  Even  in  the  case  of  Islam, 
the  attempt  is  still  made  to  account  for  the  phenomena 
by  supposing  some  other  force  behind  them.  The 
most  recent  life  of  Mohammed  *  tries  to  explain  his 
movement  as  a  social  rather  than  a  religious  revolution. 
Social  distress  bulks  so  largely  in  our  own  philosophy 
that  we  are  tempted  to  give  it  an  equally  large  place 
in  the  thoughts  of  other  times.  It  is  a  sufficient 
present  answer  to  this  theory  to  say  that  we  hear 
nothing  of  social  claims  in  connection  with  the  rise  and 
spread  of  Islam.  The  cry  of  the  hosts  which  subdued 
Asia  was  not  for  freedom  of  land  or  for  relief  from 
feudal  burdens,  either  of  taxation  or  service ;  it  was 
not  a  demand  for  liberty  or  equality.  Some  of  these 
things  were  more  or  less  distinctly  involved ;  but 
they  were  only  indirectly  involved.  The  formulated 
demand  of  the  Moslem  army  was  for  the  recognition 

*  Grimrae,  Mohammed^  Erster  Teil,  Das  Leben,  Miineter,  1892. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  5 

of  Allah  as  the  one  God,  and  of  Mohammed  as  His 
Apostle.  They  brought  a  creed  for  their  watchword, 
and  offered  a  Bible  as  their  boon.  This  is  where  we 
may  easily  find  the  strength  of  Islam  to-day.  You 
may  talk  to  an  intelligent  Mohammedan  of  the  benefits 
given  by  modern  progi'ess.  He  will  acknowledge  that 
the  civilization  of  Europe  has  some  material  advan- 
tages ;  but,  in  his  heart,  he  will  say  that  these  are  only 
the  temporary  enjoyments  of  a  transitory  world,  and 
he  will  thank  Allah  that  He  has  given  him  the  better 
part  in  the  promise  of  the  world  to  come.  To  this 
day  Mecca  numbers  among  its  inhabitants  men  who 
have  emigrated  from  the  countries  where  they  enjoyed 
peace  and  security  under  Christian  rule — emigrated 
because  they  could  not  feel  at  home  under  such  rule, 
in  spite  of  its  material  advantages.  These  men  de- 
sire more  than  material  advantages — "  They  desire 
to  study  the  sacred  sciences  in  a  sacred  place,  to 
live  in  the  neighborhood  of  celebrated  and  pious 
scholars  or  devotees,  to  do  penance  for  former  trans- 
gressions, to  cleanse  their  filthy  lucre  by  using  it 
partly  in  religious  works,  or  to  spend  their  last  days 
and  to  die  on  holy  ground."  This  is  the  testimony 
of  a  man  "^  who  had  unusual  opportunities  to  know 
whereof  he  affirms.  And  all  observers  who  have 
become  acquainted  with  the  real  life  of  the  people 
in  Moslem  lands  confirm  this  testimony.  The  lead- 
ing force  in  Eastern  society  is  still  religion. 

"What  has  been  said  is  enough  to  show  the  impor- 
tance of  a  study  of  this  great  religious  movement. 
The   inquirer  into   the   history  of    mankind   cannot 

♦  Snouck-IIungronje,  Mekka^  II.,  p.  5. 


6  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

ignore  this  striking  episode.  In  any  of  its  numerous 
aspects,  Islam  will  repay  investigation.  But  it  is 
obvious  that,  for  a  single  course  of  lectures,  we  must 
limit  our  field ;  and,  for  the  present  course,  it  is  my 
purpose  to  consider  only  the  beginnings.  The  his- 
tory of  a  quarter  of  the  globe  through  a  period  of 
thirteen  centuries,  is  an  immense  subject.  Internal 
and  external  wars,  the  rise  and  fall  of  dynasties, 
revolutions,  crusades,  philosophies,  and  theologies — 
these  would  require  many  volumes  for  their  adequate 
treatment.  To  get  a  clear  impression,  we  must  limit 
our  field ;  and  the  best  place  to  begin  is  at  the  begin- 
ning. We  do  not  ignore  the  fact  that  the  Islam  of 
to-day  is  in  many  respects  different  from  the  Islam 
which  emerged  from  the  wilderness  twelve  centuries 
ago.  It  may  be  true,  as  has  been  claimed,  that  one 
who  studies  the  Koran  and  thinks  himself  acquainted 
with  the  Islam  of  to-day,  is  as  far  WTong  as  he  would 
be  who  should  study  the  Gospels  and  think  himself 
acquainted  with  the  Christianity  of  Hildebrand  or 
of  Pius  the  Ninth.  Wejneed  to  caution  ourselves  at 
this  point,  and  not  to  assume  that  what  is  true  of 
Mohammed  and  Omar  is  true  also  of  the  now  rul- 
y  ing  Sultan.  But,  when  all  is  said,  we  know  a  good 
\  I  deal  about  a  system  when  we  know  its  beginnings. 
gy^^f^^.,  The  stream  is  purest  at  its  source.  Principles  are 
^^^*^o ,  simpler  when  they  first  show  their  activity.  Later 
^J^^  developments  may  obscure  them,  but  cannot  change 
^^h  their  essence.  The  later  developments  are  better 
f  ^\}ij^ '  understood  by  the  mastery  of  the  earlier  and  simpler 
'•^^  stages.  And  what  is  true  in  general  is  true,  in  a 
f  >>'      very  special  sense,  of  the  movement  before  us.     The 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  7 

religion  of  Mohammed  developed  with  great  rapidity. 
During  the  lifetime  of  its  founder  it  passed  through 
the  stages  which  Christianity  took  three  centuries  to 
traverse.  In  one  sense  this  js  a  disadvantage.  The 
growth  would  have  been  more  healthy  if  it  had  been  ^ 
more  deliberate.  But  it  adds  to  the  importance  of 
the  earliest  period  when  this  period  contains  so  much. 
It  is  only  the  natural  result  that  the  dogmatic  system 
of  Islam  not  only  assumed  its  final  shape  at  a  very 
early  date,  but  that  it  adhered  to  one  type  with  great 
tenacity.  Development  there  was;  but  the  develop- 
ment early  became  sectarian.  The  official,  orthodox 
dogma  overcame  the  sects,  and  this  orthodox  dogma 
was  only  the  codification  of  ideas  already  prevalent 
in  the  first  century  of  the  Flight.  For  these  reasons 
knowledge  of  the  origin  of  Islam  is  the  knowledge 
of  the  whole  system,  more  truly  than  is  the  case  in 
any  other  of  the  great  historic  religions. 

But  we  must  still  further  limit  oui*  inquiry.  A  gen- 
eral sketch  of  the  rise  of  Mohammedanism  would  no 
doubt  be  of  great  interest,  but  it  would  still  require 
more  space  than  we  can  give  it.  We  must  choose  some 
one  of  its  many  aspects,  and  fix  our  attention  upon 
this  single  point,  in  the  hope  that  the  smallness  of  the 
field  will  conduce  to  clearness  in  the  picture.  Now, 
the  point  which  I  propose  to  examine  is  the  influence 
which  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  have  exerted 
upon  this  religion  which  is  neither  Judaism  nor 
Christianity,  though  it  shows  such  curious  resem- 
blances to  both.  These  resemblances  force  them- 
selves upon  the  notice  of  even  the  most  superficial 
observer.     Never  was  there  a  religion  so  little  original 


-o+e 


\f 


s 

I 


8  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

as  this  one.  The  dependence  of  one  religion  upon 
another  is,  however,  not  a  rare  phenomenon.  Relig- 
ious ideas  emigrate  more  rapidly  than  the  religions 
of  which  they  are  a  part.  All  the  religions  of  which 
we  have  competent  knowledge,  not  excepting  the 
religion  of  Israel,  show  foreign  influence.  The  gods 
and  myths  of  Greece  were  emigrants  from  Asia; 
Judaism  borrowed  from  Babylonia ;  Christianity  built 
upon  the  foundation  inherited  from  Judaism.  It  is 
not  strange,  therefore,  that  Islam  should  use  both 
Jewish  and  Christian  ideas.  So  far  from  the  lack  of 
originality  being  a  reason  for  ignoring  the  study  of 
this  religion,  we  may  say  that  it  is  a  sj)ecial  reason 
for  studying  it.  Here  is  a  great  fact — the  migration 
of  religious  beliefs.  It  is  set  before  us  in  a  striking 
example.  Every  consideration  urges  us  to  its  close 
and  attentive  examination. 

In  examining  the  dependence  of  Islam  upon  the 
earlier  religions  we  are  met  at  the  outset  by  one 
capital  difficulty.  Islam  we  know  ;  the  sources  flow 
for  us  with  greater  copiousness  than  is  true  of  any 
other  religion.  But  the  Judaism  and  Christianity 
of  Arabia  are  almost  unknown  quantities.  There 
was  Judaism  in  Arabia.  We  suppose  that  it  con- 
formed in  general  to  the  type  of  other  post-biblical 
Judaism.  But  how  far  it  may  have  been  affected 
by  its  surroundings  is  hard  for  us  to  say.  There 
was  Christianity  in  Arabia.  But  of  its  character 
we  are  even  more  ignorant  than  we  are  of  Arabian 
Judaism.  It  seems  quite  certain  that  it  was  not  the 
Christianity  of  the  Greek  Church.  In  all  prob- 
ability it  existed  in  the  form  of  some  of  the  sects 


TUB  APOSTLE   OF  ALLAH  9 

stigmatized  by  the  theologians  as  heretical.  The 
type  of  heresy  represented,  however,  can  be  only 
faintly  conjectured.  Now,  in  this  state  of  ignorance, 
we  are  obliged  to  seek  some  fixed  point,  and  this 
fixed  point  can  be  no  other  than  the  Bible.  What- 
ever the  Judaism  of  Ai-abia  had,  or  had  not,  we  are 
safe  in  assuming  that  it  had  the  Hebrew  Bible.  In 
like  manner,  it  is  true  of  the  Christianity  of  Arabia 
that  it  had  a  Bible,  which,  for  the  most  part,  was  the 
same  as  the  one  which  we  ourselves  hold  sacred. 
For  the  comparison  which  we  propose  to  make,  the 
only  practicable  thing  to  do  is  to  note  what  Biblical 
features  appear  in  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  It  is, 
of  course,  perfectly  legitimate  to  note  the  form  which 
these  features  assume  in  their  new  combination.  If 
these  are  such  as  appear  elsewhere  in  the  Judaism 
of  the  Talmud,  it  will  be  perfectly  legitimate  to  as- 
sume that  Talmudic  influence  was  at  work.  If  the 
New  Testament  influences  appear  clouded  by  the 
tendencies  which  show  themselves  in  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  we  shall  conclude  that  these  tendencies 
were  at  work  among  the  nominal  Christians  of  Arabia. 
Nevertheless,  the  features  which  we  seek  are  Biblical 
in  their  substance  and  their  origin.  Our  two  known 
quantities  are  the  Bible  and  the  sources  of  Islam. 

It  is  significant  at  the  very  outset  to  notice  that 
Mohammed,  the  founder  of  Islam,  designated  him- 
self by  two  words  borrowed  from  the  Scriptures. 
One  was  borrowed  directly  in  the  Hebrew  form — 
nahj — and  was  intended  to  rank  him  Vvdth  the  Old 
Testament  organs  of  revelation,  the  2^rophcfs  of  that 
dispensation.     The  other,  rasuJ,  was  the  translation  of 


10  TUB  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

the  New  Testament  word  which  we  render  apostle, 
and  was  equally  intended  to  class  him  with  the  or- 
gans of  revelation  in  the  Christian  Church.  We  see, 
therefore,  that  the  very  terms  in  which  the  founder 
of  the  new  religion  announced  himself  expressed  his 
adoption  of  Hebrew  and  Christian  ideas.  And  that, 
with  the  words  which  he  adopted,  he  had  the  Biblical 
idea  is  made  plain  by  many  passages  of  the  Koran : 
**  We  have  sent  thee  with  the  truth,  as  a  bringer  of 
tidings  and  a  warner."  *  The  prophets  and  apostles 
are  well  described  by  this  word,  for  it  was  their  work 
to  warn  their  people  of  the  judgments  of  God.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  Mohammed's  starting-point 
was  the  fundamental  position  of  revealed  religion — 
that  God  speaks  through  chosen  men,  to  make  His 
will  known  to  the  world.  This  position  is  the  key 
to  his  activity. 

There  are  thinkers,  however,  to  whom  it  is  incom- 
prehensible that  a  man  should,  in  all  honesty,  put 
forward  a  claim  to  speak  as  the  messenger  of  God. 
They  are  compelled  to  seek  some  ulterior  motive  for 
his  activity.  The  whole  mediaeval  world  was  of 
course  incapable  of  understanding  the  Prophet  of 
Islam.  The  only  thing  which  those  centuries  could 
see  was  that  Mohammed  was  the  deadly  enemy  of 
their  civilization.  They  could  explain  his  impulse 
only  asi,  the  direct  act  of  Satan.  In  truth,  the  hordes 
of  fierce  and  savage  warriors  which  poured  from 
Arabia  and  overran  a  large  part  of  the  known  world, 
must  have  made  upon  their  victims  the  impression 

♦Koran  2"^  cf.  48S  6^«.  It  should  be  noticed  that  God  is  uni- 
formly the  speaker  in  the  Koran, 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  H 

that  hell  had  let  loose  all  its  demons.  According  to 
the  prevalent  theory  of  Christian  writers  down  to 
very  recent  times,  therefore,  Mohammed  was  the 
most  distinguished  instrument  of  Satan.  ^  Anti- 
christ is  one  of  the  names  frequently  applied  to  him. 
At  the  present  day  we  may  fairly  regard  this  view  as 
antiquated.  Satan  is  not  a  preacher  of  truth,  and  we 
can  hardly  doubt  that  Mohammed  was  sincere  in 
preaching  the  truth. 

The  seventeenth  century  had  another  explanation 
of  the  career  of  Mohammed.  This  explanation  is 
explicitly  stated  in  a  treatise  by  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Prideaux,  entitled,  "  The  True  Nature  of  Imposture, 
Fully  Displayed  in  the  Life  of  Mahomet."  t  The 
polemic  nature  of  this  tract  (for  it  is  little  more)  is 
sufficiently  indicated  in  its  title.  The  author  con- 
ceives Mohammed  to  be  moved  by  a  desire  to  regain 
ancestral  honors  and  wealth,  which  had  been  lost  by 
his  family.  "These  considerations  meeting  with  an 
ambitious,  aspiring  mind,  soon  put  him  upon  de- 
signs of  raising  himself  to  the  supreme  government 
of  the  country ;  and  being  a  very  subtile,  crafty 
man,  after  having  maturely  weighed  all  ways  and 
means  whereby  to  bring  this  to  pass,  [he]  concluded 
none  so  likely  to  effect  it  as  the  framing  of  that  im- 
posture which  he   afterward   vented  with   so  much 

*  The  reverse  opinion — that  the  Mohammedans  were  God's  instru- 
ments of  punishment  for  heresy  or  schism — was  also  maintained. 
Cf.  Keller,  Der  Geisteskampf  des  Christentums  gegen  den  Islam^ 
189G,  pp.  12,  56. 

t  My  copy  is  of  the  seventh  edition,  London,  1818,  but  the  pref- 
ace is  dated  1690  97. 


12  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

mischief  to  the  world."  *  The  author  of  the  treatise, 
therefore,  supposes  Mohammed  to  go  deliberately  to 
work  and  frame  a  new  religion  as  a  means  to  the 
royal  power.  Substantially  the  same  theory  was  car- 
ried out  in  the  Bampton  Lectui'es  of  1784,  which 
have  for  their  subject :  "  A  Comparison  of  Mahomet- 
anism  and  Christianity  in  their  History,  their  Evi- 
dences and  their  Effects."  In  these  lectures  it  is 
throughout  assumed  that  the  founder  of  Islam  was  an 
impostor,  who,  "  by  the  mere  force  of  a  bold  and  fer- 
tile genius,  assisted  by  a  concurrence  of  circumstances 
universally  auspicious  to  his  design,  was  enabled  to 
obtain  the  most  unbounded  empire  over  the  minds, 
as  well  as  persons,  of  a  very  large  portion  of  man- 
kind." t  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  position 
taken  by  these  writers,  who  were  moved  thereto  by 
the  desire  to  defend  Christianity,  was  also  taken  by 
Yoltaire,  who  embodied  it  in  his  tragedy:  "Ze  Fan- 
aiisme,  ou  MaJiomet  le  Prophete.''  X  ^J  ^^^  author's 
own  letter  of  dedication,  this  tragedy  was  directed 
against  an  imposture  which  brought  into  play  the 
hypocrisy  of  some  and  the  fury  of  others.  In  the 
play  itself  Mohammed  is  made  to  confess  the  ambi- 
tion that  is  his  motive.     ELe  is  made  to  see  with  the 

♦Prideaux,  l.  c,  p.  7. 

t  Joseph  White,  Sermons  preached  lefore  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford in  the  year  1784  at  the  Lecture  founded  by  the  Rev.  John 
Bampton,  M.A.  Second  Edition,  London,  1811,  p.  47.  Cf.  also 
p.  85,  where  Mohammed  is  described  as  the  impostor  "  whose  false 
and  impious  pretences  to  divine  revelation  were  .  .  .  crowned 
with  success." 

X  (Euvres  Completes  de  Voltaire,  1785,  Tome  III.  The  Tragedy 
was  first  acted  August  9,  1742. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALL-AH  13 

eye  of  a  modern  liistorian,  and  discovers  that  Persia 
is  feeble  and  Byzantium  tottering.  It  is  now  the 
turn  of  Arabia  to  step  upon  the  scene  of  action,  and 
erect  a  monarchy  upon  the  ruins  of  these.  To  secure 
this  end  a  new  religion  is  the  best  means,  and  for  this 
end  it  is  invented." 

Neither  the  English  churchman  nor  the  French 
sceptic  had  the  key  to  Islam.  Both  judged  the  mo- 
tive from  the  event.  History  shows  us,  however, 
very  few  instances  in  which  the  course  of  great  move- 
ments was  foreseen  by  those  who  originated  them. 
Mohammed  was  no  exception  to  the  rule  ;  in  fact,  he 
had  less  than  the  average  prescience  of  what  was  to 
come.  To  show  this,  we  need  only  look  at  the  out- 
line of  his  life. 

It  seems  well  established  that  throughout  his  early 
manhood,  and  until  middle  life,  Mohammed  showed 
no  special  ambition  and  no  special  capacity.  We 
know  very  little  of  this  period  of  his  life,  except  that 
he  was  an  orphan  and  poor,  until  his  man-iage  with 
Chadija  placed  him  in  easy  circumstances.  He  had 
established  a  character  for  honesty,  for  he  was  called 
the  Faithful.  But  his  religion  was  the  religion  of  his 
city,  as  is  abundantly  shown  by  the  fact  that  ho 
named  a  son  Ahd  Mendf  for  one  of  the  heathen  dei- 
ties.    When  about  forty  years  old  t  the  crisis  of  his 

*0p.  cit.     Acte  II.,  Scene  V. 

1 1  give  the  traditional  data.  Great  uncertainty  bangs  over  Mo- 
hammed's early  life,  especially  over  the  chronology.  For  the 
epithet  Faithful  see  :  Das  Lehen  Mohammed's  nach  Mohammed  Ibn 
Ishak  hear'heitet  von  fin  Ilischam^  iihersetzt  von  Dr.  Giistav  Weil. 
Stuttgart,  1864,  I.,  p.  94,  and  Sprenger,  Lehen  Mohammeds^  I., 
p.  52G.     The  mime   Abd  Jlcnaf  for  ^lohammcds  son  is  given  by 


14  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

life  came.  He  passed  through  a  severe  spiritual 
conflict,  and,  at  the  end  of  it,  came  forth  as  a  preacher. 
He  began  to  reason  with  his  countrymen  concerning 
righteousness  and  a  judgment  to  come,  and,  at  real 
risk  to  himself,  denounced  their  idolatry  as  contrary 
to  the  will  of  God.  Before  attributing  interested 
motives  to  such  a  man  we  should  have  clear  and  con- 
vincing proofs.  As  to  his  personality,  the  impression 
made  upon  us  by  the  records  of  this  early  ministry, 
and  to  a  considerable  extent  confirmed  by  his  later 
history,  is  that  of  a  modest,  retiring  man.  He  was, 
even  when  in  possession  of  power,  rather  reticent, 
shrinking  from  prominent  activity,  lacking  in  deci- 
sion. The  internal  conflict  from  which  he  suffered 
was  brought  about  by  what  he  felt  was  a  call  to 
preach.  His  conscience  urged  him  to  obey,  but 
his  natural  timidity  held  him  back.  In  all  this  he 
betrays  no  deep-laid  scheme  of  any  kind.  He 
would  apparently  have  been  satisfied  with  the  con- 
version of  his  native  city,  and  would  have  been  con- 
tent to  leave  the  government  in  the  hands  of  the 
chiefs  who  already  possessed  it.  The  singleness  of 
his  motive  was  indicated  moreover  by  his  steadfast- 
ness through  years  of  neglect,  contempt,  abuse,  and 
even  persecution.  The  Meccans  had  no  special  ob- 
jection to  his  religion  so  long  as  it  was  simply  a  per- 
sonal matter.  They  would  have  been  quite  content 
to  have  him  get  salvation  in  his  own  way,  if  only  he 
would  not  preach  against  the  publicly  established 

Muller,  Der  Islam,  im  Morgen-und  Abendlande,  I.,  p.  48;  and  the 
tradition  that  Mohammed  offered  a  white  sheep  to  the  goddess  Uzzah, 
by  Wellhausen,  Skizzenund  Vorarbeiten-,  III.,  p.  30. 


n 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  15 

worsliip.  But  it  was  precisely  this  wliich  Moliam- 
med  felt  called  to  do.  The  chiefs  of  the  Meccaus 
came  to  Abu  Talib  (Mohammed's  uncle  and  protec- 
tor) and  complained  of  the  preaching,  whereupon  the 
uncle  remonstrated  with  his  nephew.  Mohammed 
supposed  that  he  was  going  to  lose  the  protection  of 
the  clan,  in  which  case  his  life  would  not  have  been 
safe  for  an  hour.  Nevertheless,  he  said,  with  tears  in 
his  eyes  :  "  Though  the  sun  at  my  right  hand  and  the 
moon  at  my  left  were  to  command  me  to  give  up  this 
matter,  I  would  not  give  it  up."* 

In  this  persistence  in  his  calling  Mohammed  is  not 
unworthy  of  being  compared  with  the  Old  Testament 
prophets.  He  reminds  us  of  Jeremiah,  who  was  com- 
manded to  preach  though  he  was  told  that  the  kings 
of  Judah,  and  the  princes,  priests,  and  people  would 
fight  against  him.  The  parallel  with  some  of  the  Old 
Testament  prophets  is  the  more  exact  in  that  Moham- 
med was  apparently  slow  of  speech.  In  his  private 
life  he  was  taciturn.  That  when  he  spoke  in  public 
he  had  difficulty  in  expressing  his  thought,  seems 
evident  from  the  phenomena  of  the  Koran.  The  fre- 
quent repetition  of  the  same  thoughts,  and  even  the 
same  phrases,  shows  lack  of  facihty.  In  many  pas- 
sages we  are  compelled  to  think  that  ho  was  not  able 
to  express  his  thought  with  clearness.  He  is  fond 
of  figures  and  metaphors,  yet  he  rarely  succeeds  in 
carrying  one  out  consistently.  He  was  far  from  being 
a  natural  orator,  and  he  would  have  been  strangely 
self-deceived  if  he  had  supposed  that  his  eloquence 
would  make  his  countrymen  subservient  to  his  do- 

*  Weil,  Ihn  Ilischam^  I.,  p.  125. 


16  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

signs.  And  liis  experience  is  just  in  line  with  the 
other  evidence  on  this  head.  His  countrymen  had 
small  patience  with  his  harangues.  They  stigmatized 
them  as  the  ravings  of  one  possessed,  or  as  the  fables 
of  the  ancients.  Putting  these  indications  together 
we  must  agree  with  an  eminent  authority  on  this  sub- 
ject "^  when  he  says  :  "  He  was  not  a  master  of  the 
language — which  explains  the  frequent  repetitions  in 
the  Koran.  He  composed  with  difficulty ;  he  rarely 
found  at  once  the  w^ord  which  correctly  expressed  his 
thought.  He  tried  it  therefore  in  different  ways,  and 
hence  we  find  the  same  ideas  recur  continually  in 
the  Koran,  only  in  different  words.  More  than  one 
example  shows  us  that  the  prophet  did  not  find 
the  appropriate  form  until  after  repeated  attempts." 
The  matter  concerns  us  here  only  so  far  as  it  affects 
the  sincerity  of  Mohammed.  All  the  indications  point 
him  out  as  one  of  the  last  men  to  attempt  a  career 
which  should  make  him  play  the  part  of  an  orator. 

Looking  at  him  more  closely,  it  may  be  confessed 
without  hesitation  that  Mohammed  was  not  a  man  after 
the  pattern  which  most  commends  itself  to  us.  His 
personality  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  comprehend 
in  all  history,  for  it  seems  to  us  to  unite  contradic- 
tory traits.  Frugality  and  lavishness,  temperance 
and  sensual  grossness,  indecision  and  firmness,  gen- 
tleness and  cruelty,  piety  and  treachery,  all  appear 
by  turns ;  and  the  opposites  are  often  in  immediate 
juxtaposition.  It  is  difficult  for  us  modern  men  of  the 
Aryan  race  to  combine  these  features  in  a  single  pict- 

*  Dozy,  Essai  sur  VHistoire  de  V Islamisme^  Traduit  par  Chauvin, 
Leyde  et  Paris,  1879,  p.  119. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  17 

ure.  It  is  no  more  than  a  commonplace  to  say  that  a 
Semite,  a  Bedawj,  an  Arab  brought  up  in  heathenism, 
must  be  measured  by  the  Semitic  standard  of  twelve 
hundred  years  ago.  That,  measured  by  this  standard, 
he  was  no  ordmary  man  is  clear  from  the  influence 
which  he  exerted  during  his  life,  and  which  has  only 
increased  since  his  death.  To  the  present  day,  the 
Prophet  enters  into  the  life  of  his  followers  to  an  ex- 
tent difficult  for  us  to  imagine.  Nearly  all  books 
written  by  Moslems  contain  in  the  preface  a  eulogy 
of  Mohammed — even  works  of  the  imagination  like 
the  Arabian  Nights.  Once  a  year  the  birthday  of  the 
Prophet  is  celebrated  by  the  Moslem  world,  and  it  is 
the  universal  custom  to  hear  the  story  of  his  life,  or 
poems  in  his  praise.  The  number  of  biographies  of 
him  is  very  great ;  almost  every  Arabic  author  of  note 
has  ^viitten  one.  To  cast  a  slur  on  the  name  of  Mo- 
hammed in  a  Moslem  country  will  excite  a  mob  much 
more  certainly  than  blasphemy  of  the  name  of  Jesus 
will  excite  one  in  any  Christian  country.  The  Ara- 
bic press  continues  to  issue  yearly  new  biographies  or 
books  of  devotion,  in  which  the  exemplary  character 
of  the  Prophet  is  set  forth  for  the  imitation  of  the 
faithful.  Even  in  Mecca,  where  one  would  expect 
feeling  to  be  made  callous  to  this  theme  by  long  use, 
the  recitation  of  a  poem  in  his  honor  calls  forth  sighs 
and  tears  of  longing : "- 

"  My  heart  yearns,  O  Apostle  of  God,  to  thee, 
But  Ah!     I  am  heavy  laden  with  my  sins." 

It  need  not  be  denied  that  in  this  devotion  there  is 

*  Snouck-Hurgronje,  Mekka,  II.,  p.  74. 


18  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

something  of  superstition.  The  Bedawin,  hke  most 
people  in  a  comparatively  low  state  of  civilization, 
are  prone  to  reverence  saints.  And  when  we  read  how 
the  people  in  Mohammed's  campaigns  would  take  the 
water  in  which  he  had  performed  his  ablutions  and 
rub  it  on  their  hands  and  faces,  we  confess  that  he 
was  the  object  of  an  unreasoning  devotion.  But  this 
is  recorded  only  of  the  later  years  of  his  life,  when 
his  following  was  increased  by  the  scarcely  converted 
desert  tribes,  to  whom  a  proj)het  was  only  a  sooth- 
sayer or  magician  under  another  name.  The  early 
and  more  intimate  companions  of  the  Prophet  were  not 
of  this  class.  Omar  impresses  us  as  one  of  the  san- 
est, clearest  headed  men  that  ever  lived.  Abu  Bekr, 
also,  though  a  man  of  tender  religious  sensibilities, 
possessed  a  sober  and  practical  common-sense,  far 
removed  from  fanaticism.  That  this  was  not  mere 
superstitious  devotion  to  a  supposed  wonder-working 
wizard  which  Mohammed  called  forth,  is  evident  from 
others  besides  these  intimate  friends.  When  Saad 
Ibn  Eabia  lay  on  the  battle-field  in  the  article  of 
death,  he  said  to  a  friend  who  watched  by  him  :  "  I 
am  dying ;  greet  the  Apostle  of  Allah  for  me  and 
say :  God  reward  thee  for  what  thou  hast  done  for 
us,  as  He  rewarded  the  other  prophets.  Greet  also 
the  Helpers  for  me  and  say :  God  will  not  forgive 
them  if  harm  comes  to  their  prophet."  In  one  of  the 
campaigns  Zeid  Ibn  al-Dathana  was  taken  captive 
and  brought  to  Mecca,  where  he  was  put  to  death. 
Just  before  he  was  executed  one  of  the  spectators 
asked  :  "  Would  you  not  rather  be  with  your  family 
and  that  Mohammed  should  be  in  your  place  here  ?  " 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  19 

The  reply  was :  "  I  would  not  have  Mohammed 
pricked  with  a  thorn  if  thereby  I  might  be  in  safety 
with  my  family."  Nowhere  was  this  loyalty  more 
evident  than  when  there  was  a  real  grievance.  In  one 
of  his  later  campaigns  Mohammed  disposed  of  the 
booty  in  a  manner  that  quite  overlooked  the  claims 
of  his  veteran  followers.  Their  murmurs  came  to  his 
ears,  and  gathering  them  around  him  he  spoke  a  few 
words  of  recognition.  All  hearts  turned  to  him  and 
the  Helpers  ^  broke  down  in  tears,  crjdng :  We  are 
content  with  our  portion  and  our  lot.  Another  ex- 
ample recalls  to  us  the  chivalry  of  Uriah  the  Hittite. 
Abu  Chaithama  came  home  from  the  army  to  fetch 
grain.  The  day  was  hot,  and  his  wives  had  pitched 
the  tents  in  the  shade  of  his  garden.  They  also 
sprinkled  them  for  coolness  and  prepared  refreshing 
meat  and  drink.  He  looked  at  it  all  and  said :  "  The 
Apostle  of  Allah  is  exposed  to  the  sun  and  the  wind 
and  the  heat ;  and  shall  I  spend  my  time  with  my 
wife  in  the  cool  shade  before  a  spread  table  ?  That 
is  not  right.  I  will  not  enter  your  tent  but  follow 
Mohammed."  He  turned  away  and  as  soon  as  his  gi-ain 
was  ready  he  mounted  his  camel  and  went  his  way.t 
These  examples,  which  might  easily  be  multiplied, 
show  that  it  was  not  mere  superstition  which  drew 
followers  to  the  Prophet.  They  felt  that  this  man 
had  brought  them  real  benefit,  and  their  hearts  were 
drawn  not  only  by  the  benefit  they  had  experienced 
but  also  by  the  qualities  of  the  man.     Some  of  these 

*The  Helpers  (Anrar)  are  the  people  of  Medina  who  welcomed 
Mohammed  when  he  fled  from  Mecca. 

t  Tliese  examples  are  taken  from  Weil,  Ibn  Ilischam^  pp.  31,  71, 
252.  2G1. 


20  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

qualities  we  can  appreciate.  For  one  thing,  lie  was 
modest  in  liis  opinion  of  himself.  When  he  first  came 
to  Medina  and  saw  the  people  fertilizing  the  pistillate 
palms  with  sprigs  of  the  staminate  blossoms,  he  re- 
marked that  it  might  be  as  well  not  to  do  it.  Here- 
upon some  of  the  people  left  off,  and  when  their  crops 
of  dates  came  short,  they  naturally  reproached  him. 
He  made  no  defence,  but  confessed  that  he  was 
fallible  except  where  divinely  guided.  Although  his 
followers  persisted  in  discovering  miracles  wrought 
by  him,  he  expressly  declared  his  inability  to  work 
them,  and  that  in  a  passage  which  reveals  his  great 
desire  to  work  them  :  "  I  cannot  provide  myself  T>dth 
what  is  useful  or  [ward  off]  what  is  hurtful  except  as 
God  wills.  If  I  knew  the  secret  things  I  would  de- 
sire great  good,  and  evil  should  not  touch  me  ;  but  I 
am  only  a  Avarner  and  bringer  of  tidings  to  a  people 
who  believe."  *  According  to  an  early  tradition  he 
deprecates  extravagant  honors :  "  Praise  me  not  as 
Jesus  the  son  of  Mary  is  praised ;  call  me  the  servant 
of  God  and  His  Apostle."  t  When  one  of  his  follow- 
ers and  a  Jew  were  disputing  about  the  comparative 
merits  of  their  respective  prophets,  Mohammed  said : 
"  Do  not  put  me  above  Moses."  He  had,  moreover, 
a  distinct  sense  of  his  own  sinfulness.  Ayesha  asked 
him :  Do  none  enter  Paradise  except  through  the 
favor  of  God  ?  No !  he  replied,  none  enter  but  through 
God's  favor.     The  question  was  asked  and  answered 

*  Koran  7'««,  and  cf.  6^5  ej(  al.  In  Bochari,  III.,  p.  149,  Mo- 
hammed intimates  that  his  judgment  in  legal  decisions  is  not  in- 
fallible. 

t  Cited  by  Goldziher,  Myhammedanische  Studien^  II.,  p.  279. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  21 

tlireo  times.  Then  she  said  :  You,  also,  O  Prophet, 
will  not  yon  enter  but  by  God's  compassion  ?  Putting 
his  hand  upon  his  head  he  replied  :  I  also  shall  not 
enter  unless  God  cover  me  with  His  mercy.*  The 
consciousness  of  sin  was,  in  fact,  the  starting-point 
of  his  religion.  His  prayers  always  contained  a  peti- 
tion for  forgiveness.  He  desired  the  intercession  of 
his  friends,  as  he  in  turn  interceded  for  them.  That 
he  also  laid  the  case  of  his  enemies  before  God,  and 
invoked  punishment  upon  them  need  cause  us  no 
surprise,  f 

Mohammed  was  gentle  and  considerate  in  his  inter- 
course with  men.  He  rebukes  himself  in  the  Koran 
because  in  his  anxiety  to  conciliate  a  nobleman,  he 
once  turned  away  from  a  poor  blind  man  who  wished 
to  inquire  of  him 4  A  poor  negro  who  swept  the 
mosque  at  Medina  died  and  was  buried  without  the 
Prophet  being  informed.  On  hearing  of  it  later,  he 
rebuked  those  who  had  neglected  to  tell  him,  inquired 
for  the  grave,  and  prayed  over  it  as  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  do  for  his  friends.  §  The  support  of  his 
household  was  often  a  matter  of  anxiety  to  him,  but 
he  was  always  mindful  of  those  more  needy,  so  that 
it  was  not  without  ground  that  his  followers  called 
him  the  protector  of  orphans  and  the  defence  of  the 
poor.  More  surprising,  in  an  oriental,  is  his  kindness 
toward  animals.     Although  the  dog  is  unclean  of  the 

♦  Mishcat  ul  Masahih  (Englisli  translation),  I.,  p.  280. 

f  Bochari,  I.,  p.  140;  II.,  p.  14. 

X  Koran  80'  ^  This  is  the  traditional  occasion  for  the  passage. 
Griinme  objects  to  the  tradition,  but  I  see  no  sufliciont  reason  for 
rejecting  it. 

§  Bochari^  II.,  p.  84. 


22  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Moslem,  as  lie  is  to  the  Jew,  yet  Mohammed  praised 
the  man  who  showed  kindness  to  a  thirsty  dog.^  He 
promised  a  reward  also  to  the  man  who  watered  a 
stray  camel,  and,  consistently  with  this,  he  threatened 
a  woman  with  hell  because  she  had  starved  a  cat.t 

Quite  as  prominent  as  his  kindness  was  the  good 
sense  he  showed  in  matters  where,  if  he  were  a  fanatic, 
he  might  be  expected  to  be  extreme.  At  one  time  he 
inclined  to  ascetic  devotion,  and  stood  in  prayer  so 
long  that  his  feet  swelled,  or  so  long  that  their  skin 
cracked  and  they  bled.  But  when  his  followers 
showed  similar  excess  of  zeal,  he  restrained  them, 
saying :  The  body  has  a  claim  on  you4  Although  not 
without  superstition  himself,  he  discouraged  it  in 
others  even  where  it  might  have  seemed  to  his  advan- 
tage to  connive  at  it.  The  day  that  his  infant  son 
Ibrahim  died,  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun.  The 
Moslems  were  inclined  to  connect  the  two  events. 
But  Mohammed  said  :  "No !  the  sun  is  not  eclipsed 
for  the  death  of  any  human  being  ;  eclipses  are  among 
the  miracles  of  God  ;  when  you  see  them,  engage  in 
prayer." 

If   Mohammed   shows  many  attractive    personal 

*  "  When  a  man  journeys  and  his  thirst  consumes  him  and  he 
comes  to  a  well  and  drinks,  then  comes  away  and  sees  a  famished 
dog  gnawing  the  dirt  in  his  thirst,  and  says :  This  animal  is  in  the 
condition  in  which  I  was ;  then  fills  his  boot  and  holds  its  mouth 
and  comes  and  gives  the  dog  to  drink — God  rewards  such  a  man 
and  forgives  him.  The  people  said  :  O,  Apostle  of  Allah,  do  we 
receive  a  reward  in  the  matter  of  animals?  He  replied  :  For  every 
animal  [literary  :  for  every  moist  liverl  there  is  a  reward." — Bocliari^ 
III.,  p.  71.    Cf.  also  Wellhausen's  VaJcidi,  p.  327. 

t  Mishcat^  IT.,  p.  42. 

X  Bochari,  II.,  pp.  41,  226. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  23 

characteristics,  he  shows  also  many  that  are  repul- 
sive, especially  to  our  age.  That  they  were  not  ob- 
noxious in  the  eyes  of  his  own  age  is  evident  from  the 
very  devotion  which  we  have  been  considering.  The 
standard  of  the  times  was  not  very  elevated.  After 
the  battle  of  Ohod,  Hind,  the  wife  of  one  of  Moham- 
med's enemies,  sought  out  among  the  slain  the  body 
of  Hamza,  Mohammed's  uncle,  who  had  fallen  in  the 
Moslem  cause.  Having  fomid  it,  she  cut  off  the  nose 
and  ears,  which  she  made  into  bracelets.  She  then 
tore  open  the  trunk  and  cut  out  the  liver,  which  she 
had  vowed  to  eat.  Although  she  was  not  able  to 
carry  out  the  vow,  the  whole  scene  casts  a  lurid  light 
upon  the  state  of  society  in  which  Mohammed  grew 
up.  In  such  a  society,  the  faults  which  are  so  prom- 
inent to  us  did  not  attract  serious  attention.  It  is 
always  difficult  to  say  just  how  far  a  man  should  be 
judged  by  the  standard  of  his  own  times.  But  we 
may  fairly  claim  that  any  indulgence  granted  to  Bibli- 
cal heroes  on  this  plea  should  be  granted  also  to  Mo- 
hammed. The  state  of  Arabia  in  the  seventh  century 
was  not  unlike  the  state  of  Canaan  two  millenniums 
earlier.  The  assassinations  prompted  by  Mohammed 
should  be  judged  as  we  judge  the  deeds  of  Ehud  and 
Jael.  His  slaughter  of  the  Jews  stands  by  the  side 
of  Joshua's  extermination  of  the  Canaanites.  His 
indulgence  in  wives  was  not  more  profuse  than 
David's,  and  fell  far  short  of  Solomon's  luxury.  Like 
David,  he  coveted  his  neighbor's  wife,  but  he  did  not 
murder  her  husband,  and  he  did  not  take  possession 
of  her  until  she  had  been  divorced.  He  cursed  his 
enemies,  but  so  did  the  Psalmist ;  and  the  plea  made 


24  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

for  the  Psalmist,  that  the  objects  of  his  imprecations 
were  the  enemies  of  the  cause  of  God,  was  precisely 
the  plea  that  Mohammed  would  have  made  in  all 
sincerity. 

These  things  are  not  said  as  a  justification.  Tried 
by  any  standard  the  Prophet  of  Mecca  falls  short  of 
perfection.  But  if  we  are  to  appreciate  his  work  we 
must  not  let  his  faults  blind  us  to  his  real  character. 
That  character  is  defined  when  we  say  he  was  a  sin- 
cerely religious  man.  "  Did  you  know  what  I  know 
(he  is  reported  to  have  said) — did  you  know  what  I 
know  of  the  future  state,  you  would  laugh  little  and 
weep  much."  "^  This  sentence  gives  us  the  key  to  his 
life  and  to  his  power.  He  had  a  vivid  sense  of  the 
great  verities — the  being  of  God,  the  evil  of  sin,  the 
future  life.  He  succeeded  in  imjaressing  these  upon 
the  movement  of  which  he  was  the  head,  and  they 
make  it  what  it  is — one  of  the  great  religions  of  the 
world. 

Before  we  proceed  further  it  will  be  necessary  to 
define  the  sources  from  which  we  get  our  knowledge 
of  Islam.  The  difficulty  which  confronts  us  is  the  em- 
barrassment of  riches.  Islam  has  a  long  history  and 
a  copious  literature.  In  the  course  of  its  history  it 
has  developed  sectarian  differences,  as  great  as  those 
which  divide  professing  Christians.  Seventy-three 
sects  of  Mohammedans  were  long  ago  counted,  and 
in  the  number  was  found  the  fulfillment  of  a  proph- 
ecy ascribed  to  Mohammed.t     But  as  we  have  limited 

*  Mishcat,  I.,  p.  327. 

fThe  tradition  appears  in  different  forms:  "The  Banu  Israel 
were  divided  into  seventy-two  tribes,  and  my  people  will  be  seventy- 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  25 

our  inquiry  to  the  origin  and  early  stages  of  Islam, 
sectarian  differences  do  not  concern  us.  For  tliis  in- 
quiry, one  document  is  of  the  very  first  importance^ 
and  that  document  is,  of  course,  the  Koran.  This 
book  is  recognized  by  all  parties  of  Moslems  as  the 
foundation  of  their  faith.  Even  if  there  were  doubt 
as  to  its  integrity  and  its  authenticity  it  would  still 
be  of  prime  importance  for  the  history  of  Islam.  But 
there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  either  its  integrity  or  its 
authenticity.  The  assurances  we  have  on  this  point 
are  very  complete.  The  prime  fact  is  that  the  reve- 
lations were  committed  to  memory  by  a  large  body  of 
converts  during  the  life  of  Mohammed.  He  empha- 
sized this  as  a  meritorious  act,  and  thereby  increased 
the  number  of  living  custodians  of  the  word.  The 
book  was  formally  edited  and  published  soon  after 
his  death,  and  when  divergences  began  to  appear  in 
the  copies  of  this  edition,  a  new  one  was  published 
with  new  safeguards  for  its  correctness.  There  can 
be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  copies  in  our  hands 
coiTespond  very  closely  with  this  original,  and  that 
this  original  does  not  vary  in  any  important  partic- 
ular from  the  text  recited  by  Mohammed  himself. 
This  does  not  mean  that  we  have  the  complete  body 
of  what  he  published.  Some  revelations  have  prob- 
ably perished  ;  others  were  worked  over  and  changed 
by  Mohammed  himself.     But  we  may  rest  assured 

three.  Every  one  will  go  to  hell  except  one." — Misluat,  I.,  p.  50. 
The  more  elaborate  form  gives  the  Zoroastriana  seventy  sects,  the 
Jews  seventy-one,  Christians  seventy-two,  and  Islam  seventy-three. 
Dozy,  V Islamisme^  p  19G.  Ilaarbriicker,  SchahrastanV s  Religions- 
paiiheien  unci  Philosophenschulen  (1850),  I.,  p.  3.  The  tradition  is 
no  doubt  an  invention. 


26  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

that  what  we  have  in  this  volume  represents  his 
thought  as  he  uttered  it  during  some  part  of  his 
career. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Koran  is  regarded  as  the 
Book  of  God,  in  the  strictest  sense.  God  appears 
throughout  as  the  speaker,  and  the  devout  Moslem 
has  the  most  exalted  idea  of  its  excellence.  "  People 
are  not  assembled  together  in  mosques  to  read  the 
Book  of  God  without  light  and  comfort  descending 
upon  them ;  the  favor  of  God  covers  them,  angels 
encompass  them  round  about,  and  God  reckons  them 
among  His  angels."  *  This  tradition,  ascribed  to 
Mohammed,  correctly  represents  his  idea,  and  that  of 
his  followers.  He  is  reported  to  have  said  further : 
*'  The  most  illustrious  of  my  followers  are  those  who 
know  the  Koran  by  heart,  and  those  who  pray  in  the 
night."  t  When  a  number  of  Moslems  had  fallen 
in  battle,  those  among  them  who  knew  the  most  of 
the  Koran  were  most  honored  in  their  burial.  Omar 
expressed  surprise  that  one  of  his  governors  should 
appoint  a  freedman  to  an  important  office.  When 
told  that  the  man  knew  the  Koran,  he  approved  the 
appointment.  Mohammed  challenged  his  contempo- 
raries to  produce  a  single  chapter  equal  to  his  in  ex- 
cellence, and  it  is  now  an  article  of  faith  that  the 
challenge  cannot  be  met.  All  these  are  indications  of 
the  fundamental  importance  of  this  book. 

When  we  come  to  the  Koran  for  information,  how- 
ever, we  are  much  perplexed,  for  we  find  it  to  be  a 
book  without  form  or  plan.     It  is  a  collection  of  dis- 

♦  Mtshcat,  I.,  p.  55.  t  Ibid-,  p.  264. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  27 

connected  compositions,  wliicli  were  uttered  at  inter- 
vals during  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years.  Wlieu 
tliey  were  written  down,  no  pains  were  taken  to  indi- 
cate date  or  occasion  of  composition.  Fragments  of 
different  dates  w^ere  joined  to  make  a  single  chapter, 
or  new  sections  were  interpolated  in  chapters  already 
complete.  When  the  final  redaction  was  made,  it 
was  altogether  mechanical  in  its  arrangement.  The 
only  principle  discoverable  is  that  the  longest  chap- 
ters come  first  and  the  shortest  last.  Within  the 
several  chapters  the  transitions  are  abrupt  and  with- 
out apparent  motive,  and  when  we  add  that  the 
repetition  of  set  phrases  is  a  standing  feature,  we  are 
not  surprised  that,  to  the  Western  mind,  the  book  is 
unattractive  and  its  study  anything  but  a  pleasure. 
For  our  present  purpose,  however,  these  drawbacks 
do  not  weigh  so  heavily  as  they  would  if  our  purpose 
were  purely  historical.  For  a  life  of  Mohammed,  it 
is  a  great  disadvantage  not  to  be  able  to  date  the 
suras.^  But  our  present  inquiry  is  less  concerned 
with  the  progressive  stages  of  the  Prophet's  thought, 
than  with  the  total  of  his  religion.  We  might  almost 
say  that  it  is  not  of  so  much  importance  for  us  to 
discover  what  he  meant  as  it  is  to  discover  what  his 
contemporaries  supposed  him  to  mean.  For  it  is 
this  which  has  made  Islam  what  it  is.  What  they 
supposed  him  to  mean  we  can  generally  discover,  for 

*  A  sura  is  one  of  the  divisions  (chapters)  of  the  Koran.  The 
word  seems  to  be  borrowed  from  the  Hebrew,  where  it  meant  a  row 
of  stones  in  a  wall.  The  principle  of  arrangement,  if  we  may 
call  it  so,  is  not  applied  with  absolute  rigor.  The  first  sura  is  a 
short  one. 


28  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

exegetical  tradition  is,  in  its  main  features,  constant. 
In  one  respect  we  are  better  off  than  the  exegetes 
themselves,  for  they  are  under  a  dogmatic  bias  from 
which  we  are  free. 

Second  to  the  Koran — but  second  to  it  alone — we 
have  another  source  for  the  knowledge  of  Islam  in 
a  great  bodj  of  traditions  concerning  th6  Prophet. 
To  understand  the  place  which  it  occupies  we  need 
only  recall  the  position  of  the  Moslem  community 
after  the  death  of  Mohammed.  Up  to  that  time,  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  answer  every  question  that 
arose.  He  ivas  the  laiv.  When  he  was  taken  away, 
they  still  had  a  law  in  the  Koran.  But  this  was  not 
enough.  No  book  of  rules  can  provide  for  every  case 
that  may  arise.  Mohammed,  moreover,  had  always 
left  something  to  oral  teaching.  It  was  not  his  inten- 
tion that  the  Koran  alone  should  be  the  rule  of  life. 
His  own  example  was  to  be  a  guide,,  as  is  expressl}^ 
stated  in  the  Koran  itself.^  In  a  tradition,  he  is 
reported  as  saying :  "  What  I  have  commanded  to 
believers  outside  the  Koran  is  equal  in  quality  to 
the  Koran  itself,  or  even  greater."  t  Whether  the  tra- 
dition is  authentic  or  not,  it  undoubtedly  represents 
the  consensus  of  Mohammedan  opinion.  From  it  we 
can  understand  the  anxiety  to  preserve  the  remem- 
brance of  Mohammed's  deeds  and  words. 

The  necessity  of  collecting  the  traditions  was  not 
simply  private  or  personal.     Questions  arose  con- 

*  "  The  Apostle  of  Allah  is  an  excellent  pattern  to  him  who 
feara  Allah  and  the  Last  Day."  (33-'.)  The  tradition  confirms  this. 
— Bochari^  II.,  152. 

t  Mishcat,  I.,  p.  48. 


THE  APOSTLE  OP  ALLAH  29 

cerning  the  state.  Public  law  and  administration 
had  to  be  dealt  with  in  just  the  same  way  as 
matters  of  individual  right  and  wrong.  If  these 
questions  were  not  answered  by  the  Koran,  they 
must  be  answered  in  some  other  way.  Here,  too, 
the  most  natural  recourse  was  the  precedents  set  by 
the  original  ruler.  There  w^as,  to  be  sure,  a  possi- 
bility of  arguing  by  analogy,  and  so  of  making  the 
written  law  cover  cases  which  were  not  directly  pro- 
vided for.  But  analogy  is  not  always  convincing, 
and  the  jurists  early  showed  their  distrust  of  it.^ 
Even  with  the  best  will  in  the  world,  the  Koran  could 
not  be  made  to  decide  every  question  that  arose. 

These  considerations  show  the  importance  which 
tradition  early  assumed  in  the  public  and  private 
life  of  the  Moslem.  It  is  not  different  in  other  relig- 
ions. The  Jews  have  their  Talmud  for  an  authority 
along  with  the  Bible.  The  early  Church  recognized 
Apostolic  tradition  as  part  of  the  rule  of  faith,  and 
even  those  modern  churches  which  have  discarded 
tradition,  find  the  need  of  Confessions,  Canons,  and 
Books  of  Discipline.  In  like  manner  there  stands  by 
the  side  of  the  Koran  a  body  of  tradition,  almost 
equally  venerated  and  more  exactly  obeyed.  The 
process  in  this  case  stands  in  the  clear  light  of  his- 
tory. When,  immediately  after  the  death  of  Moham- 
med, all  Arabia  seemed  to  revolt  from  Islam,  attempts 
were  made  to  treat  with  Xhx\.  Bekr  for  new  conditions 
of  peace.  But  the  Caliph  was  like  iron  in  maintain- 
ing what  the  Prophet  had  imposed — "  If  they  with- 
hold a  kid  from  that  which  the  Prophet  required  of 

*  Cf.  Goldzilior.  Die  Zahiriten  (1884%  p.  5  fe. 


30  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

them,  I  will  declare  war,"  was  his  declaration."^  The 
precedent  was  decisive.  Henceforth  the  example  of 
the  Prophet  was  law  to  the  whole  of  Islam. 

The  consequence  could  easily  be  foreseen.  The 
intellectual  activity  of  the  new  religion  was  turned 
to  two  subjects — the  study  of  the  Koran  and  the 
collection  of  traditions.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
Moslem  science,  and  seldom  has  science  had  more 
devoted  disciples.  For  two  centuries  the  tradition- 
ists  pursued  their  task,  undisturbed  by  the  storm  of 
war  which  raged  about  them.  They  collected  and 
preserved  from  the  Helpers  and  Companions  all  that 
these  could  remember  of  the  sayings  and  deeds  of 
the  Prophet.  They  took  at  second,  third,  and  fourth 
hand  all  that  was  alleged  to  have  come  from  the 
Helpers  and  Companions.  The  result  was  an  enor- 
mous mass  of  material,  which  the  more  earnest  and  less 
biassed  minds  saw  must  be  proved  and  sifted.  Of 
the  zeal  in  collecting,  we  have  an  example  in  Gabir 
Ibn  Abdullah,  who  went  a  month's  journey  to  hear 
a  single  tradition. t  Not  a  few  journeyed  from  one 
end  of  the  Mohammedan  world  to  the  other  for  the 
sake  of  this  knowledge.  What  was  done  in  the  way 
of  testing  and  editing  may  be  judged  from  the  state- 
ment of  Bochari  that  from  six  hundred  thousand 
traditions  he  had  selected  only  a  little  over  seven 
thousand  4 

*  Kremer,  Kulturgeschichte  des  Orients  unter  den  Chalifen 
(1875),  I.,  p.  14. 

t  Bochari^  I.,  p.  25. 

X  The  system  of  traditional  science  is  set  forth  by  Professor 
Salisbury  in  a  paper  entitled  Contributions  to  our  Knowledge  of 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  31 

It  is  apart  from  our  present  purpose  to  go  at 
length  into  the  subject  of  tradition.  Yet  to  illustrate 
the  pains  taken  by  Mohammedans  in  preserving  the 
recollections  of  their  prophet,  I  will  venture  to  quote  a 
single  example.  It  reads  as  follows  :  "  Adam  Ibn  Abi 
lyas  tells  us  that  Shay  ban  tells  us  from  Mansur  from 
Mujfihed  from  Tans  from  Ibn  Abbas  (God  be  pleased 
with  both  of  them)  that  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and 
save  him)  said  on  the  day  of  the  surrender  of  Mecca : 
There  is  no  more  [duty  of]  Flight,  but  the  Holy  War 
and  the  Intention ;  and  when  you  are  called  to  the 
Holy  War,  then  go ! "  ^  The  substance  of  the  tradi- 
tion is  here  a  saying  of  the  Prophet.  But  it  might 
be  as  well,  an  action  of  his  or  a  refusal  to  act,  or  his 
silence.  The  meaning  of  the  saying  here  given  is 
that,  whereas  before  the  conquest  of  Mecca,  there 
rested  upon  believers  an  obligation  to  flee  from  that 
city  as  Mohammed  himself  had  done,  the  obligation 
w^as  now  abrogated.  But  the  merit  of  the  action 
will  be  acquired  by  him  who  engages  in  war  with 
unbelievers,  or  who  sets  his  mind  to  accomplish  the 
end  which  could  formerly  be  reached  only  by  flight, 
that  is,  to  avoid  temptation  to  apostasy.  The  im- 
portance of  preserving  such  a  dictum  will  be  seen  at 
once. 

the  Science  of  Muslim  Tradition  in  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Oriental  Society,  Vol.  VII.  (1860),  pp.  60-142. 

Six  collections  of  traditions  enjoy  favor  among  the  Moslems.  I 
cannot  claim  acquaintance  with  any  but  Bochari,  for  which  I  have 
used  the  vocalized  version,  Bulak,  without  date.  I  cite  from  this 
by  volume  and  page,  as  the  traditions  are  not  numbered.  I  have 
read,  also.  Captain  Matthew's  English  translation  of  tlie  Mishcat-ul- 
Masabih,  Calcutta,  1809,  1810,  two  volumes,  quarto. 

*  Bochari^  IV.,  p.  35.     The  same  tradition.  II.,  p.  i'J7. 


32  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Equally  important  is  it  that  the  dictum  should  be 
known  to  come  from  Mohammed.  And  it  was  with  the 
desire  to  assure  this,  that  the  traditionists  preserved 
in  every  case  the  chain  of  witnesses  who  reported  the 
tradition.  In  the  case  cited,  the  saying  went  through 
six  hands  before  it  reached  the  author  who  put  it  on 
paper.  It  is  obvious  that  defective  memory  or  lack 
of  veracity  on  the  part  of  any  one  of  these  would 
vitiate  the  credibility  of  the  tradition.  The  Moham- 
medan authors  are  well  aware  of  this,  and  the  critical 
activity  which  resulted  in  the  rejection  of  so  large  a 
number  of  traditions  consisted  largely  in  an  exami- 
nation of  the  credibility  of  the  narrators.  That  the 
editors  were  not  free  from  bias  in  their  decisions  is 
only  what  we  might  expect.  They  were  novices  in 
the  science  of  criticism,  and  could  hardly  be  expected 
rightly  to  weigh  tendencies  which  our  own  time  has 
only  begun  to  appreciate.  In  truth  the  Haditli" 
must  be  regarded  with  marked  scepticism,  so  far  as 
it  is  used  as  a  source  for  the  life  of  Mohammed. 
The  forgery  or  invention  of  traditions  began  very 
early.  The  Companions  were  not  always  too  scrupu- 
lous to  clothe  their  own  opinions  in  the  form  of  anec- 
dotes. The  greatest  number  of  traditions  are  related 
by  men  who  were  very  young  when  the  Prophet  came 
to  Medina.  One  of  these  defends  himself  for  re- 
membering so  many  things  that  others  could  not  re- 
callt — a  case  where  self-excuse  is  self -accusation.     To 

*  Hadith  is  the  technical  term  for  a  tradition  of  whatever  kind. 
Sunna  is  customary  law^  generally,  but  not  necessarily,  based  on 
tradition.     Cf.  Goldziher,  Muhamniedanische  Studien,,  II.,  p.  11. 

iBochari,  TIT.,  p.  2. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  33 

invent  wliat  would  cast  honor  on  the  name  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  would  seem  to  those  times  a  merito- 
rious fault,  if  fault  at  all,  while  there  would  be  even 
stronger  temptation  to  suppress  anything  that  would 
not  comport  with  his  reputation.  The  same  Com- 
panion (Abu  Horaira)  who  defended  himself  for  the 
prof useness  of  his  memory,  also  confessed  that  he  had 
two  sorts  of  recollections ;  one  sort  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  relate,  but  it  would  have  been  as  much  as 
his  life  was  worth  to  relate  to  others.  These  natural 
tendencies  were  magnified  by  the  party  spirit  which 
early  became  rife  in  Islam.  Each  party  counted 
among  its  adherents  immediate  followers  of  Moham- 
med. Each  was  anxious  to  justify  itself  by  an  appeal 
to  his  words  and  deeds.  It  is  only  the  natural  result 
that  traditions  with  a  notoriously  party  bias  were  cir- 
culated at  an  early  day.  A  traditionist  of  the  first 
rank  admits  that  pious  men  were  inclined  to  no  sort 
of  fraud  so  much  as  to  the  invention  of  traditions.^ 
The  jurists  moreover  found  that  new  legal  prece- 
dents were  almost  a  necessity,  and  (as  in  other  sys- 
tems of  law)  fiction  was  used  as  a  means  of  adapt- 
ing old  laws  to  new  cases.  The  jurists  therefore  en- 
couraged the  multiplication  of  traditions  without  any 
close  inquiry  into  their  authenticity. 

From  our  point  of  view,  therefore,  many  traditions, 
even  if  well  authenticated  to  external  appearance, 
bear  internal  evidence  of  forgery.  For  example,  wo 
read  that  the  Apostle  of  Allah  said :  "  The  resurrec- 
tion will  not  take  place  until  people  kill  their  own 

*  See  the  citation,  Goldziher,  Muhammedanische  Studien^  II, 
p.  47. 

3 


34  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Imam  [or  divinely  appointed  ruler]  and  kill  one 
another  with  swords  and  until  a  tyrannical  king  shall 
reign."  ^  There  is  an  evident  reference  here  to  the 
killing  of  Ali  and  the  succession  of  the  Ommayads  to 
the  throne.  An  orthodox  Moslem  would  see  no  ob- 
jection to  the  probability  of  Mohammed's  uttering 
such  a  prediction.  His  criticism  could  hardly  be 
expected  to  question  it ;  while  to  us  it  bears  evident 
marks  of  a  later  date. 

I  may  give  here  an  anecdote  which  illustrates  the 
way  in  which  the  pious  mind  shrinks  from  too  sharp 
criticism,  or  indeed  from  any  criticism,  of  the  docu- 
ments which  it  has  been  accustomed  to  regard  as  sa- 
cred. A  leading  authority  on  the  Hadith  was  once 
lecturing  on  the  evidence  for  and  against  doubtful 
traditions,  when  a  friend  dropped  in  at  the  exercise. 
On  being  asked  the  subject  of  discussion,  the  lect- 
urer replied  :  I  am  inquiring  into  the  reliability  and 
unreliability  of  certain  scholars.  ' "  Are  you  not 
ashamed  before  God,"  asked  the  intruder,  *'  to  slan- 
der men  who  have  already  been  in  Paradise  a  hun- 
dred or  two  hundred  years  ?  "  The  lecturer  broke 
down  in  tears,  and  said  :  "  Oh !  if  my  ears  had  only 
heard  these  words  before  I  began  my  work,  I  would 
never  have  composed  it ! "  The  book  fell  from  his 
hand  and  he  was  so  much  moved  that  he  could  not 
continue  the  lecture. t 

Where  the  pious  feeling  enlists  itself  on  the  side 
of  tradition  we  can  hardly  expect  criticism  to  be  very 
radical.      The  leading  Moslem  traditionists  were  men 

*  3Iishcat,  II.,  p.  533. 

t  Goldziher,  Muhammcdanische  Studien^  II.,  p.  272  f. 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  35 

of  this  cast.  Bochari  never  recorded  a  tradition 
without  performing  the  ablution,  and  a  prayer  of  four 
prostrations.  He  sincerely  desired  to  get  at  the  truth, 
and  it  is  greatly  to  his  credit  that  he  brought  himself 
to  reject  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  literature  which 
he  had  been  taught  to  regard  with  reverence.  But 
we  cannot  suppose  that  his  work  or  that  of  other  edi- 
tors like-minded  with  him  is  final. 

Our  conclusion  is  that  for  the  life  of  Mohammed 
this  great  body  of  material  must  be  used  with  great 
caution.  But  when  the  interest  is  rather  in  the  first 
generations  of  Moslems  than  in  Mohammed  individ- 
ually, the  case  is  somewhat  better.  It  has  already 
been  remarked  of  the  Koran,  that  what  the  early  be- 
lievers supposed  it  to  mean  is  nearly  as  valuable  to 
us  as  what  it  actually  means,  or  as  w^hat  Mohammed 
intended  it  to  mean.  In  the  same  way  we  can  say  of 
the  traditions  —  what  the  early  Moslems  suppose 
Mohammed  to  have  said  is  nearly  as  valuable  for  us 
as  Avhat  he  actually  did  say.  For  we  are  concerned 
with  the  formative  period  of  his  religion,  and  this 
period  extends  beyond  his  death.  Let  me  suppose 
in  illustration  that  some  Christian  at  the  end  of  the 
second  century  had  gathered  and  recorded  for  us  all 
that  oral  tradition  had  to  say  of  the  words  and  ac- 
tions of  Jesus  Christ.  Seven  thousand  such  frag- 
ments w^ould  be  of  priceless  value.  We  could  not  be 
sure  that  in  more  than  a  small  fraction  of  cases  the 
tradition  was  reliable.  The  material  could  not  be 
used  for  a  life  of  Christ  \\dthout  gi'eat  caution.  Oral 
tradition  is  a  doubtful  thing.  It  is  liable  to  suspicion 
in  an  increasing  ratio  as  it  passes  through  three,  four, 


36  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

or  five  mouths.  Yet  sucli  a  collection  would  reveal 
to  us  the  thoughts,  beliefs,  and  customs  of  the  early 
Church,  and  in  this  regard  it  would  be  beyond  price. 
Such  a  collection  we  have  for  Islam.  Bochari,  the 
editor  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  lived  through  the  first 
half  of  the  third  century  of  the  Mohammedan  era  (he 
died  A.H.  256).  We  cannot  doubt  that,  with  the  care 
he  took,  the  material  he  gathered  was  all  considerably 
older  than  himself.  It  is  not  too  much  to  assume 
that  the  traditions  represent  the  views  of  the  first 
hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Mohammed,  and  we 
may  therefore  use  them  to  form  our  picture  of  prim- 
itive Islam. 

So  much  it  was  necessary  to  say  in  order  to  justify 
the  use  of  the  traditions  in  our  inquiry.  We  must 
not  come  to  them,  however,  with  extravagant  expec- 
tations. We  are  inclined  to  suppose  that  the  Bibli- 
cal element  in  these  will  be  large  from  the  fact  that 
so  many  converts  were  early  made  fr'om  both  Judaism 
and  Christianity.  But  the  expectation  is  disap- 
pointed. For  one  thing,  the  interest  of  the  compilers 
of  tradition  is  very  different  from  our  own.  They 
have  preserved  what  is  of  secondary  importance  to 
us,  while  doubtless  much  of  what  the}^  have  discarded 
would  be  to  us  a  welcome  source  of  light.  It  seems, 
moreover,  that  the  Koran  had  already,  even  in  the 
first  century  of  Islam,  fully  impressed  itself  as  the 
supreme  law,  so  that  the  tradition,  while  it  illustrates, 
does  not  often  add  anything  to  its  essential  contents. 
The  Koran  remains  the  chief  source  of  our  knowl- 
edge. 

The  purpose  of  this  lecture  is  fulfilled  if  it  has  set 


THE  APOSTLE  OF  ALLAH  37 

before  you  the  nature  of  the  problem  with  which  we 
have  to  deal.  The  plan  of  the  lectures  sufficiently 
shows  the  order  which  the  inquiry  will  follow.  The 
plan  itself  indicates  the  close  connection  of  Islam 
in  its  structure  with  the  system  which  prevails  in 
Judaism  and  in  Christianity.  If  the  plan  proves  to 
be  in  accordance  with  the  facts  presented  by  the 
sources  already  described,  I  shall  consider  that  the 
inquiry  is  both  interesting  and  profitable. 


LECTUEE    II. 

THE    COMMON    BASIS    IN    HEATHENISM 

No  religion  lias  been  successful  which  did  not  bor- 
row something  from  the  predecessor  which  it  tried  to 
displace.  The  Church  discovered  this  when  it  adopt- 
ed and  consecrated  heathen  festivals,  heathen  shrines, 
and  even  heathen  divinities,  making  them  into  Chris- 
tian feasts,  Christian  altars,  and  Christian  saints. 
Islam  had  a  similar  experience.  Its  immediate  pred- 
ecessor was  a  heathenism  from  which  Mohammed 
turned  away  and  which  he  would  have  entirely  sup- 
pressed had  it  been  possible.  But,  without  himself 
realizing  what  he  did,  he  was  driven  to  borrow  from 
heathenism.  We  readily  see  how  this  came  about. 
He  was  brought  up  in  heathenism — until  he  was  forty 
years  old  he  conformed  to  its  customs.  Whatever 
religion  he  had  until  that  time  was  connected  with 
the  worship  of  the  Meccans.  We  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  he  was  a  sincerely  religious  man,  when  he 
sacrificed  a  kid  to  Uzza  at  the  Kaaba,  or  when  he 
called  a  son  Abd  Menaf  for  one  of  the  false  gods. 
When  his  new  convictions  came,  he  gave  up  what- 
ever was  contradictory  to  them.  Probably  he  tried 
at  first  to  make  a  clean  sweep  of  the  old  religion.  He 
gave  up  the  sanctuary,  for  at  Medina  he  made  Jeru- 

38 


THE   COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        39 

salem  the  point  toward  which  the  prayers  of  the  be- 
lievers should  be  directed.  But  even  this  was  a  strain 
on  his  habit.  So  after  a  time  the  Kibla  Avas  changed 
to  the  Kaaba  again.  Partly  this  may  be  accounted 
for  by  his  experience  with  the  Jews.  When  he  came 
to  Medina  he  felt  that  he  could  gain  them  to  his  party. 
He  was  convinced  that  his  religion  and  theirs  were 
one  in  substance,  and  of  course  he  saw  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  at  once  unite  with  him.  In  this  he 
overrated  his  knowledge  of  their  religion,  and  under- 
rated the  obstinacy  of  their  convictions.  When  he 
saw  that  his  hopes  were  not  likely  to  be  realized,  he 
changed  the  Kibla.  That  his  motive  was  to  gratify 
his  affection  for  the  ancestral  sanctuary  rather  than 
to  alienate  the  Jews,  is  evident  from  the  Koran,  which 
says :  "  We  have  seen  thee  turning  thy  face  about 
tow^ards  the  [different  parts  of  the]  heavens,  and  We 
will  cause  thee  to  turn  to  a  Kibla  that  will  please  thee. 
Therefore  turn  thv  face  in  the  direction  of  the  sacred 
House,"^  and  wherever  you  are,  turn  your  faces  in  its 
direction,  and  those  who  receive  the  Book  w^ill  know 
that  this  is  the  truth  from  thy  Lord ;  and  God  is  not 
ignorant  of  what  they  do."  The  plain  implication  of 
the  passage  is  that  Mohammed  was  restless  under  his 
own  ordinance  which  fixed  the  Kibla  at  Jerusalem. 
His  heart  yearned  toward  the  ancient  sanctuary. 
His  desire  was  gratified  by  the  command  to  make 
that  again  the  central  point  of  his  religion. 

Although  the  motive  in  this  was  so  largely  per- 
sonal, yet  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  a  real  step 
toward  gaining  the  Arabs.     The  new  Kibla  was  to 
♦Literally,  Mosque,  or  place  of  prostration.     The  passage  is  2'^". 


40  .  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tliem  a  notification  that  the  new  religion  was  to  be 
national.  The  reconciliation  between  Mohammed's 
belief  in  the  genuineness  of  Judaism  and  his  belief 
in  the  genuineness  of  the  Kaaba,  was  effected  by 
an  ingenious  use  of  Abraham.  How  he  came  to 
this  is  difficult  to  make  out.  The  theory  of  Moslem 
writers  that  the  heathen  Arabs  already  knew  Abra- 
ham as  the  builder  of  the  Kaaba  must  be  viewed 
with  suspicion.  Still  there  is  a  possibility  that 
Abraham,  or  an  Abraham  was  known  to  the  Mec- 
cans  and  connected  with  their  worship.*  The  motive 
of  Mohammed  is  evident.  All  great  religious  leaders 
have  sought  points  of  union  with  the  past.  It  seems 
to  them  evident  that  a  purer  faith  was  accepted 
in  the  earlier  ages,  and  they  claim  therefore  to  be 
restorers  rather  than  originators.  Such  was  the  claim 
of  Mohammed.  Christianity  and  Judaism  both  had 
made  Abraham  the  Father  of  the  Faithful.  The 
Old  Testament  account  makes  him  a  builder  of 
altars.  What  more  natural  than  that  Mohammed 
should  suppose  him  the  founder  of  the  Kaaba? 
Later  tradition  was  not  content  with  even  this  an- 
tiquity. It  supposes  the  sacred  building  to  have 
been  first  erected  by  Adam  in  imitation  of  the 
heavenly  sanctuary  which  he  had  seen  in  Para- 
dise before  his  expulsion.     It  also  affirms  that  this 

*  The  Station  of  Abraham  is  mentioned  in  tradition  as  though  it 
were  a  part  of  tlie  Kaaba  (or  possibly  a  name  for  the  whole  Kaaba) 
before  the  conquest  of  Mecca.  Cf.  Bochari^  I.,  p.  97,  where  Omar 
says  that  he  suggested  to  Mohammed  the  words  (Kor.,  2"^)  :  "  And 
take  the  Station  of  Abraham  as  a  place  of  prayer."  The  Station  of 
Abraham  is  the  name  now  given  to  a  part  of  the  area  of  the  Haram 
at  Mecca. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        41 

lieavenly  House  is  located  just  over  the  earthly  Kaaba. 
But  these  refiiiemeuts  are  later  than  the  time  of  Mo- 
hammed, who  was  satisfied  to  carry  the  sacred  place 
back  to  Abraham.* 

The  Kibla — that  is,  turning  the  face  to  a  particu- 
lar point  of  the  compass  in  worship — is  itself  an  in- 
stitution of  great  antiquity.  It  is  perhaps  never  ab- 
sent from  early  religions.  When  men  have  a  dis- 
tinct place  in  which  their  Deity  dwells,  they  natural- 
ly turn  toward  that  place  in  paying  their  devotions. 
One  of  the  gravest  accusations  against  Israel  is  that 
they  turn  their  faces  to  the  sun  and  their  backs  to 
the  Temple  of  Yahweh.t  The  prayer  of  Solomon  in- 
timates that  worshippers  even  in  distant  lands  would 
pray  toward  the  temple.  J  The  custom  of  Daniel  is 
well  known.  The  institution  of  the  Kibla  is  there- 
fore ancient  in  Judaism  and  very  likely  goes  back  to 
Semitic  heathenism.  In  Islam  it  is  really  a  survival. 
For  Mohammed  made  God's  dwelling-place  to  be 
heaven,  and  there  was  no  real  meaning  in  an  earthly 
sanctuary.  He  himself  says  :  "To  God  belongs  the 
East  and  the  West ;  wherever  you  turn,  there  is  the 
face  of  God."  And  again  :  "  Piety  does  not  consist 
in  turning  your  faces  toward  the  East  or  toward  the 

*  Judaism  also  locates  the  heavenly  throne  just  above  the  earthly 
Temple,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  adopted  by  Mohammed.  For 
in  the  Night  Journey  he  went  first  to  Jerusalem  and  thence  ascended 
to  heaven.  The  Mohammedan  tradition  which  ascribed  the  first 
building  to  Adam,  allows  that  this  structure  was  destroyed  in  the 
Deluge  and  rebuilt  by  Abraham. 

t  Ezek.  8'^,  where  the  text  has  been  purposely  changed  to  obscure 
a  drastic  phrase. 

X  1  Kings  8.     Cf.  Dan.  C". 


42  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

West.  Pious  is  be  who  believes  in  God  and  the 
Last  Day."  ^  But  custom  was  too  strong  for  logic,  as 
has  often  been  the  case  in  other  religions. 

To  custom  also,  aided  by  a  sense  of  expediency,  we 
must  attribute  the  retention  of  the  Kaaba  itself  as  a 
fetish — I  know  of  no  other  word  that  will  fit  the  case. 
For  the  Kaaba  is  one  of  the  sacred  stones  of  which 
Semitic  religion  knows   so  many.     The  process  by 
which  they  become  sacred  is  vividly  brought  before 
us  by  the  experience  of  Jacob.     The  wayfarer  has  a 
dream  in  which  a  divine  being  appears  to  him.     On 
waking,  he  associates   the  divinity   with   some   con- 
spicuous stone — perhaps  the  one  which  he  has  used 
as  a  pillow.     The  stone  becomes  an  object  of  wor- 
ship.    It  receives  the  oblation  of  oil  or  a  vow  of  the 
titlies.     From  this  time  on,  the  stone  and  the  God 
are  identified;  the  more  ignorant  worshippers  iden- 
tify them  absolutely,  the  more  intelligent  say  that 
the  God  dwells  in  the  stone,  which  therefore  becomes 
a  Beth-El.     A  number  of  such  idols  or  fetishes  are 
known  to  have  existed  in  Arab  heathenism.     Dhu-1- 
Chala9a,  a   white   stone,  once    an   idol,  is   now   the 
threshold  of  a  mosque  at  Tabala,  where  it  w^as  for- 
merly worshipped.    Dusares  of  Petra,  a  still  more  an- 
cient example,  is  described  as  a  black,  rectangular,  un- 
cut stone  four  feet  high  and  two  feet  thick.    One  of  the 
names  for  it  seems  to  have  been  Jcaaba.i  The  prevalence 
of  stone  worship  among  the  heathen  Arabs  is  attested 
by  the  Moslem  writers,  in  that  they  were  compelled 

*  Koran  2'»9,  "2. 

t  The  examples  are  from  Wellhausen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarheiten^ 
III.,  pp.  42  f.,  4G;  cf.  also  pp.  50,  54. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        43 

to  invent  a  theory  to  account  for  it.  The  theory  is 
thus  given  by  the  earliest  biographers  of  Mohammed 
whose  work  has  come  down  to  us :  *  "  Others  believe 
that  the  beginning  of  idolatry  among  the  sons  of 
Ishmael  was  that  the  Meccans,  when  their  land  be- 
came too  straight  for  them,  spread  abroad  over  the 
country,  and  all  took  stones  from  their  sanctuary  [the 
Kaaba],  out  of  reverence  for  their  temple,  and  they 
set  them  up  wherever  they  formed  a  settlement ; 
and  they  walked  around  them  as  they  used  to  go 
about  the  Holy  House.  This  led  them  at  last  to 
worship  every  stone  that  pleased  their  fancy;  and 
their  descendants,  who  forgot  the  earlier  faith,  aban- 
doned the  religion  of  Abraham  and  Ishmael  and 
worshipped  idols  and  fell  into  the  errors  of  the 
people  who  had  preceded  them."  The  tradition  is 
interesting  as  showing  how  easily  historical  theory 
exactly  reverses  the  facts,  and  also  as  showing  the 
Moslem's  inability  to  comprehend  the  religion  of  his 
ancestors.  But  here  it  interests  us  especially  as 
giving  unbiassed  testimony  to  the  existence  of  stone 
worship  before  Islam. 

The  Kaaba  is  such  a  Beth-El.  It  is  in  fact  called 
the  House  of  God.  But  let  us  not  be  misled  by  this 
name,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  Kaaba  is  a  building,  into 
supposing  that  it  was  a  temple.  The  God  resided  in 
it  only  as  Uzza  resided  in  the  tree  which  was  identi- 
fied with  her.  The  four  walls  which  constituted  the 
original  building  were  only  an  extension  or  enlarge- 
ment of  the  sacred  stone.  No  special  emphasis  was 
ever  laid  upon  the  room  within  these  walls.     The 

♦  Ibn  ITischam,  Uebersetzt  von  Weil,  I.,  p.  39. 


44  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

walls  themselves  were  the  sacrum.  And,  when  the 
roof  was  added,  the  building  was  a  cube — simply  an 
enlarged  block.  The  black  stone  near  one  corner  was 
most  sacred,  but  the  whole  cube  was  an  object  of 
worship.^^  The  house  of  the  God  was  added  in  the 
curtain  which  was  stretched  over  the  structure,  and 
which  is  still  annually  renewed.  In  all  this — the 
sacredness  of  the  stone,  the  cubical  form  of  the 
sacred  object,  and  the  tent  which  was  stretched  over 
it — we  see  remarkable  resemblances  to  Hebrew  antiq- 
uity. Jacob's  stone  at  Bethel  has  already  been 
alluded  to.  But  this  is  not  the  only  sacred  stone  of 
Hebrew  history.  In  Jacob's  covenant  with  Laban 
we  find  another,  and  in  fact  the  3Iaggeba  appears  to 
have  been  a  regular  accompaniment  of  the  altar  of 
Yahweh  down  to  a  comparatively  late  period,  t  We 
remember  also  that  the  Most  Holy  part  in  both  Tab- 
ernacle and  Temple  was  a  cube  in  form  ;  that  over 
it  was  spread  a  tent  in  the  desert ;  and  that  the  cen- 
tral point  even  in  the  Temple  of  Solomon  was  a 
peculiar  rock. 

All  these  remarkable  parallels  are  due  to  survival 
from  early  Semitic  heathenism.  Mohammed  in  his 
rejection  of  the  idols  should  have  rejected  the  Kaaba 
as  well.  Omar  used  to  say,  after  the  death  of  the 
Prophet,  when  he  stroked  the  black  stone  of  the 
Kaaba :  "  I  know  thou  art  only  a  stone  and  canst 
neither  harm  nor  help ;  and  had  I  not  seen  the 
Apostle  of  Allah  do  this  I  would  never  do  it."     But 

*  On  other  instances  in  which  the  sacred  object  was  a  building,  cf. 
Wellhausen,  /.  c„  p.  39  f. 

fCf.  W.  R  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  185  ff. 


TEE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        45 

custom  was  too  strong  for  logic.  The  reverence  with 
which  Mohammed  had  learned  to  regard  the  sanctu- 
ary in  his  youth  clung  to  him  in  his  manhood,  and  it 
carried  the  sanctuar}^  and  the  Kibla  into  Islam. 
Various  puritan  sects  have  arisen  in  Islam  which  have 
tried  to  carry  out  the  logic  of  the  Prophet,  to  do  away 
with  the  sacred  stone,  and  to  destroy  the  whole  sanct- 
uary. But  the  result  has  been  only  to  establish  the 
superstition  the  more  strongly." 

The  rites  of  the  pilgrimage  are  also  an  instance  of 
resemblance  which  is  not  dependence.  They  orig- 
inate in  Semitic  heathenism,  from  which  common 
source  they  passed  over  into  Hebraism  and  into  Is- 
lam. The  pilgrimage  is  called  by  the  name  haj — the 
same  word  was  used  by  the  Hebrews  for  the  yearly 
festivals. t  The  Arabic  lexicographers  define  it  as  a 
visit.  But  it  seems  originally  to  have  been  the  pro- 
cession or  dance  around  the  sacred  stone  or  the  altar. 
A  Psalmist  speaks  of  going  about  the  altar,  and  an- 

*  Snouck-Hurgronjc,  Mekka^  I.,  pp.  49,  GO.  The  later  tradition 
declares  that  Allah  gave  Adam  a  model  of  the  Kaaba  in  curtains 
of  light,  pitching  it  on  the  spot  on  which  the  Kaaba  now  stands. 
This  tradition  is  doubtless  influenced  by  the  Biblical  account  of  the 
command  given  to  Moses  concerning  the  Tabernacle  and  the  pattern 
"vrhich  was  showed  him  in  the  mount.  Ex.  25*°.  Cf.  Prideaux, 
Life  of  Mahomet^  p.  56.  On  the  covering  of  the  Kaaba  in  heathen 
times,  Snouck-Hurgronje,  Mekka^  I.,  5.  The  tlieologians  find  a 
reason  for  kissing  the  black  stone  in  the  legend  that  it  was  origi- 
nally a  jewel  from  Paradise,  which  has  become  black  by  contact 
with  sinful  men.  At  the  last  day  it  will  receive  eyes  and  tongue 
and  will  bear  witness  for  the  believers. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Heavenly  Jerusalem  is  also  a 
cube  (Apoc.  21'"). 

tExod.  1214,  23'S  Lev.  23"  and  often. 


46  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

other  was  accustomed  to  lead  the  procession  on  festi- 
val occasions.*  David  danced  before  the  ark.  So  we 
find  in  Arabia  that  the  worshippers  walk  around  the 
Kaaba  and  run  between  Safa  and  Merwa,  two  other 
sacred  spots  in  Mecca. t  The  number  of  circuits  is 
seven,  %  which  reminds  us  of  the  prominence  of  seven 
as  a  sacred  number  in  Judaism.  The  theologians  are 
ready  with  a  theory  that  Adam  was  the  originator  of 
this  custom,  having  seen  the  angels  march  about  the 
throne  of  God  in  Paradise. 

Other  customs  of  the  pilgrimage  show  notable 
analogies  with  those  enjoined  in  the  Old  Testament, 
the  analogies  being  due  to  their  common  heathen 
source.  One  of  these  is  the  shouting  of  the  pilgrims. 
When  the  Haj  reaches  the  sacred  territory  its  mem- 
bers shout  Lcibhaika — at  Thy  service  !  This  shout- 
ing is  called  by  a  name  derived  from  the  root  from 
which  we  find  in  the  Bible  Hallelujah.  The  Halle- 
lujah also  is  a  shout  of  greeting.  -  The  verb  means 
to  shout  just  like  the  corresponding  Arabic  verb.  If 
the  circuit  of  the  sacred  object  was  originally  a 
dance,  the  shouting  was  the  song  that  accompanied 
it.  But  all  festivals  are  noisy  occasions.  So  late  as 
the  time  of  the  Psalms,  worship  is  described  as 
"  shouting  aloud  to  God."  §     In  the  sacrificial  ritual 

♦  Ps.  26S,  42\ 

t  On  the  rites  of  the  pilgrimage  as  now  performed,  of.  Burton, 
Personal  Narrative  of  a  Pilgrhnage  to  Mecca  and  Medina.  I  have 
only  the  Tauchnitz  edition  (1874),  in  which  the  third  volume  is  de- 
voted to  Mecca. 

X  Mohammed  used  to  make  three  out  of  the  seven  with  a  quick 
step,  the  others  more  deliberately. — Bochari^  II.,  p.  148. 

§Ps.  81'.     On  the  word  hallal  and  its  meaning,  cf.  Wellhausen, 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        47 

both  of  Arabia  and  of  Plienicia,  the  name  of  the 
God  was  shouted  by  the  worshippers.  The  Arabic 
custom  therefore  was  not  borrowed  (as  Sprenger 
thinks),  from  Israel,  but  was  a  part  of  primitive 
Semitic  worship  which  passed  over  into  Israel  and 
into  Islam. 

To  our  view  the  characteristic  rite  of  the  Hebrew 
religion  was  sacrifice,  and  this  rite,  as  we  know,  is 
found  in  nearly  all  religions.  In  Arabic  heathenism 
it  existed  in  a  very  primitive  form.  The  victim  was 
not  burned  upon  an  altar — the  blood  was  smeared  on 
the  sacred  stone  or  poured  out  at  its  base.  The  ap- 
plication of  the  blood  to  the  altar  (or  on  the  most 
sacred  occasions  to  the  Ai'k,  the  special  seat  of  the 
divinity),  continued  in  the  Old  Testament  religion 
down  to  its  latest  development.  In  Islam,  though 
the  rite  was  retained,^  the  application  of  the  blood 
to  the  sacred  object  (the  Kaaba  itself,  of  course,  would 
have  been  the  proper  object),  was  lost.  The  meaning 
of  sacrifice  is  therefore  totally  obscured.  For  we  can 
hardly  doubt  that  its  early  significance  was  in  mak- 
ing the  God  partake  of  the  feast,  either  by  himself, 
or  in  the  communion  with  the  worshippers.  In  re- 
jecting this  idea,  Mohammed  was  consistent  with 
the  general  trend  of  his  theology.  God  is,  to  him, 
Rupersensuous,  and  He  cannot  partake  of  food.  On 
this  the  Koran  has  a  very  explicit  declaration.  The 
sacredness  of  the  blood  disappears — except  that  it 
cannot  be  eaten.     There  is  no  longer  any  idea  either 

Skizzen^  III.,  p.  107;  Sprenger,  Lehen  Muhammed's,  III.,  p.  527; 
W.  K.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites.,  p.  411. 
*  Cf.  below,  on  the  Service  of  God. 


48  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

of  expiation  or  communion  connected  with  the  rite. 
We  should  expect  the  rite  to  be  done  away.  But  it 
survives.  Its  merit  is  in  fact  emphasized,  as  is  usu- 
ally the  case  with  unmeaning  rites.  But  its  merit  is 
solely  that  it  is  obedience  to  a  command  of  God."^  It 
does  not  disprove  Mohammed's  independence  of  Juda- 
ism in  this  matter,  that  the  theologians  bring  the 
great  sacrifice  at  Mecca  into  connection  with  Abra- 
ham's willingness  to  sacrifice  his  son.t 

In  connection  with  the  pilgrimage  we  notice,  as 
another  survival,  the  shaving  of  the  head.  For 
Islam,  it  is  assumed  to  be  a  part  of  the  pilgrimage 
(Kor.  2^^^ ).  The  references  to  it  in  Arabic  heathen- 
ism are  unambiguous,  J  and  w^e  see  that  the  shorn 
hair  is  an  offering  to  the  God  of  the  worshipper.  In 
the  Old  Testament  also  the  Nazarite  shaved  his  head 
at  the  completion  of  his  term  of  devotion,  and  the 
hair  was  burnt  upon  the  altar.  In  Islam  the  rite 
now  completes  the  pilgrimage,  and  its  significance  is 
apparently  exhausted  in  marking  the  passage  from 
the  "  holy  "  to  the  "  common  "  state  of  life.  This  was 
true  to  a  certain  extent  in  Judaism,  where  shaving 
the  head  marked  the  accomplishment  of  any  vow. 
The  original  sacrificial  meaning  still  shows  itself  in 
another  rite,  w^hich  has  survived  in  Islam  and  is  en- 

*  The  traditions  on  the  merit  of  sacrifice  are  given  by  Hughes, 
Dictionary  of  Islam^  p.  552. 

t  Mohammed  said  (according  to  a  tradition)  that  the  sacrifices  are 
conformable  to  the  laws  of  Abraliam. — Hughes,  p.  552''.  The  com- 
plete divorce  of  the  rite  from  its  early  meaning  is  seen  in  the 
fact  that  the  sacrifice  of  the  Haj  is  offered  in  the  valley  of  Mina — 
not  at  the  Kaaba. 

X  Cf.  Krehl,  Ucher  die  Religion  der  Vorislamischen  Araber^  p.  H. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        40 

joined  in  tradition  tliougli  not  in  the  Koran.  When 
a  child  is  seven  days  old  its  head  is  shaved,  and  a 
goat  is  sacrificed,  that  is,  slain,  and  the  flesh  dis- 
tributed to  the  poor.  We  are  expressly  told  that  in 
heathenism  the  same  custom  prevailed,  and  that  the 
blood  of  the  slain  animal  was  rubbed  on  the  child's 
head.'^  This  points  to  a  dedication  of  the  child  to 
the  God,  and  the  shaving  of  the  head  must  have  had 
the  same  meaning.  An  analogue  is  circumcision, 
which  also  has  survived  in  Islam  though  not  enjoined 
in  the  Koran. 

The  list  of  customs  which  have  survived  from 
Semitic  heathenism  in  both  Hebraism  and  Islam  is 
not  yet  complete.  One  of  them  is  the  changing  of 
clothes  by  the  pilgrim  when  he  enters  the  sacred 
territory.  This  is  not  expressly  enjoined  upon 
Israel,  but  when  they  appear  before  God  at  Sinai, 
they  are  commanded  to  consecrate  themselves  and 
wash  their  clothes.  The  Psalmist  exhorts  to  wor- 
ship in  ''  the  beauty  of  holiness,"  by  which  he  means 
vestments  consecrated  to  the  service.  It  is  an  ex- 
pression of  the  same  idea,  when  the  priests  are  com- 
manded to  conduct  their  service  in  sacred  garments. 
Ezekiel  is  especially  clear,  for  he  enjoins  that  when 
the  priests  go  into  the  outer  com-t  to  the  people,  they 
shall  put  off  the  garments  in  which  they  minister 
and  put  on  others,  t  The  same  regulation  passed 
into  the  priestly  Tora.  We  cannot  doubt  that  we 
have  here  a  custom  of  Semitic  heathenism  which  has 
survived  into  the  later  relis^ions.     In  Israel  it  was 

*  Buraifla,  cited  by  Hughes.  Dictionary  of  Islam^  p.  554. 
fEzck.  44>^ 
4 


50  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

specialized  because  a  distinct  order  of  priests  was 
developed.  Originally  it  was  the  whole  people  who 
were  subject  to  this  regulation.  Islam  has  therefore 
more  nearly  preserved  the  original  usage.  We  may 
note,  in  this  connection,  the  law  which  forbids  inter- 
course of  the  sexes  during  the  pilgrimage  —  a  law 
which  has  its  counterpart  in  the  Old  Testament.^ 

The  sacredness  of  a  particular  territory  is  one  of 
the  ideas  originating  in  Semitic  heathenism  and  sur- 
viving into  the  revealed  religions.  In  his  farewell 
pilgrimage,  Mohammed  said :  "  God  consecrated 
this  land  in  the  day  in  which  he  made  heaven  and 
earth,  and  it  is  consecrated  with  His  consecration 
until  the  day  of  resurrection.  And  killing  was  not 
lawful  in  it  to  any  before  me,  and  it  was  lawful  to  me 
for  one  hour  of  one  day  only.  And  it  shall  be  con- 
secrated with  God's  consecration  until  the  day  of 
Eesurrection — its  brambles  shall  not  be  cut,  nor  its 
game  hunted,  nor  shall  one  pick  up  a  lost  article 
without  advertising  it,  nor  shall  its  fresh  herbage  be 
gathered."  t  This  was  simply  the  continuation  of 
the  heathen  regulation.  We  find,  besides  Mecca, 
other  sacred  tracts  mentioned  in  heathen  times — 
liima  is  their  name — within  which  animals  could 
pasture  at  will  and  none  could  molest  them.  Not 
even  stray  animals  could  be   reclaimed  when  they 

*Kor.  2^'S  cf.  Ex.  19  ^^  The  priest  at  Nob  refuses  to  give  David 
the  sacred  bread  until  assured  that  the  young  men  have  kept  them- 
selves from  women. — 1  Sam.  21*. 

t  Bochari^  II.,  p.  197.  At  the  suggestion  of  Abbas,  the  Prophet 
made  an  exception  in  favor  of  the  cutting  of  certain  fragrant  rushes ; 
cf .  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites^  p.  134 ;  Snouck-Hurgronje, 
Mekka,  I.,  p.  23. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        51 

had  once  crossed  the  boundary  of  the  liima.     The 
land  was  sacred  to  the  God  who  had  his  dwelling 
in  it,  and  whatever  came  into  contact  with  the  land 
partook  of  the  sacredness.     It  was  not  only  the  prop- 
erty of  the  God;  it  partook  of  his  inviolability,  so 
that  whoever  injured  it  was  guilty  of  sacrilege.     As 
we  are  not  studying  Arabic  heathenism,  we  need  not 
stop  to  inquire  whether  the  earliest  idea  was  that  the 
God  dwelt  in  the  territory  and   therefore   made   it 
sacred,  or  whether   it   was   the  territory  that   was 
sacred,  and   therefore,  the   God   dwelt   in  it.     What 
interests  us  is   that  the  primitive  idea  passed  over 
into  Judaism  and  Islam — and,  indeed,  into  traditional 
Christianity.     The  sanctuary  of  God  is  a  sanctuary 
for   men — those    in    danger    find   an   asylum   there. 
Joab,  when  he  knows  his  life  to  be  threatened,  flees 
to  the  altar  and  lays  hold  of  it,  and  although  in  his 
case  the  asylum  was  not  respected,  this  is  the  ex- 
ception  that  proves  the  rule.     The  cities  of  refuge 
humanely  provided   in   the  later  legislation  for  the 
protection  of  the  manslayer,  were  doubtless  originally 
seats  of  worship.     The  asylum  has  in  them  survived 
the  sanctuary.     It  is  not  improbable  that  the  pro- 
vision for  the  cattle  of  the  Levites  in  the  "  suburbs  " 
of  their  cities   is  a  relic  of  the  same  idea.^     The 
Levites  are  consecrated  persons.     Their  cities  with 
the  territory  about  them  are  sacred.     The  only  cattle 
that  can  be  allowed  there  must  be  the  property  of 
the  sacred  persons.     It  does  not  seem  far-fetched  to 
suppose  that  the  Sabbatic  year  rests  upon  the  same 
basis.     The  whole  land  of  Israel  belongs  to  Tahweh  ; 

*  Num.  352. 


52  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

His  property  in  it  is,  therefore,  shown  by  its  being 
left  uncultivated — the  hima  was  always  left  in  its 
natural  state.  To  plough  the  Idyna  is  profanation.  It 
was,  of  course,  impossible  to  ordain  that  the  land  of 
Israel  should  be  left  uncultivated  all  the  time,  for  its 
people  had  become  cultivators.  But  the  recognition 
of  its  sacredness  might  be  made  one  year  out  of  seven. 
This  ordinance  has  had  no  influence  on  Islam ;  but 
the  idea  of  holiness,  or  sacredness,  which  shows  itself 
in  Islam  is  evidently  the  same  w^hich  appears  in  these 
various  provisions  of  the  Hebrew  LaAV. 

There  are  a  number  of  heathen  customs  which 
have  maintained  their  place  in  Islam,  but  which  are 
tolerated  rather  than  authorized.  Sacred  trees  still 
have  a  sort  of  worship  paid  them.  There  are  traces 
of  such  also  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is,  at  least,  a 
curious  coincidence,  that  the  tree  of  Uzza  was  an  ora- 
cle, and  that  in  Israel  we  have  a  tr'ee  of  the  diviners.'^ 
The  worship  of  the  dead  has  left  traces  in  the  cus- 
toms of  Israel  and  in  the  customs  of  Islam.  The 
Jews  builded  the  tombs  of  the  prophets,  and  so  do 
the  Moslems  to  the  present  day.t  With  the  sacred 
fountains  at  Kadesh  and  elsewhere,  we  may  compare 
the  sacred  well  Zemzem  at  Mecca,  whose  character 
was  left  undisturbed  by  Mohammed. 

We  shall  have  occasion  to  notice  that  the  name  of 

*  Judges  9"''.  The  coincidence  is  pointed  out  by  Krehl,  Religion 
der  Vorislam.  Araher^  pp.  75,  78  f. 

t  Images  of  Abraham  and  Ishmael  are  said  to  have  been  -vror- 
shipped  in  the  Kaaba. — Bochari^  11.,  p.  147.  This  is  perhaps  a  de- 
duction from  the  alleged  foundation  of  the  sanctuary  by  them.  On 
saint-worship  in  Islam,  cf.  Goldziher,  Muhammedanische  Studien^ 
XL,  p.  281  £f.,  and  I.,  p.  229  flf. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        53 

God  adopted  by  Mohammed  is  one  of  the  names  cur- 
rent in  Arabia  before  his  time,  and  that  it  is  the 
same  name  used  in  Hebrew  and  Sjriac.  He  had  no 
need  to  borrow  it  from  any  other  source  than  Arab 
custom.  The  name  must  have  existed  among  the 
primitive  Semites  before  the  rise  of  the  Hebrew  re- 
ligion. 

The  characteristic  greeting  of  Islam  is  Salaam  ! 
This  is  well  known  to  be  identical  with  the  Hebrew 
Peace  !  (Shalom.)  Our  first  impulse  is  to  derive 
Mohammed's  custom  from  Judaism.  But  this  would 
probably  not  be  correct.  In  the  desert  the  state  of 
nature  is  a  state  of  war,  and  every  stranger  is  taken 
for  an  enemy.  The  most  appropriate  assurance  when 
men  meet  is  that  it  is  peace.  So  we  explain  the  cus- 
tom in  Hebraism,  and  we  suj)pose  the  state  of  Arab 
society  had  given  rise  to  the  same  custom  in  primitive 
times.  The  salutation  would  be  a  survival  in  both 
Judaism  and  Islam.  The  Meccans  were  accustomed 
to  use  another  form ;  ^  but  this  does  not  prove  that 
Mohammed  adopted  his  from  the  Jews. 

The  fact  that  the  Arabic  and  the  Hebrew  are  so 
closely  related,  and  that  the  state  of  society  in 
which  the  two  languages  were  spoken  v/as  so  nearly 
the  same,  causes  a  similarity  in  phraseology  which 
may  deceive  us.  We  are  likely  to  su^^pose  there  was 
borrowing,  when,  in  fact,  there  was  none.     Or,  again, 

*  According  to  Wakidi,  Uraair,  who  came  from  Mecca  to  Medina 
ostensibly  to  treat  with  Mohammed  for  the  ransom  of  prisoners, 
used  the  salutation:  "A  Pleasant  Morning,"  Wellliausen,  Mo- 
hammed in  Medina^  p.  75;  cf.  Goldziher  la  the  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  40, 
p.  22. 


54  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

there  may  have  been  borrowing  before  the  time  of 
Mohammed.  In  either  of  these  cases  it  would  be 
wrong  to  argue  for  Biblical  influence  on  Mohammed, 
on  the  ground  of  resemblance.  For  example,  the  con- 
junction of  riches  and  children  as  marks  of  prosper- 
ity is  found  in  the  Koran :  *  "  Like  those  who  were 
before  you — they  were  more  powerful  than  you  and 
surpassed  you  in  riches  and  in  children^  This  and 
similar  expressions  remind  us  of  the  Psalmist's  lan- 
guage :  "  Whose  belly  thou  fiUest  with  treasure,  they 
are  satisfied  with  children,"  and  other  passages  to  the 
same  intent.  The  resemblance  is  the  more  marked 
in  that  both  Bible  and  Koran  thus  describe  the 
wicked  in  their  prosperity.  But  there  is  probably 
no  dependence.  It  is  the  Semitic  idea  which  puts 
large  possessions  and  numerous  offspring  side  by 
side  as  elements  of  good  fortune.  Another  resem- 
blance is  found  in  the  following  :  t  "  Those  who  deny 
Our  signs  [or  accuse  Our  verses  of  falsehood]  and 
show  themselves  proud  against  thee — for  these  the 
gates  of  heaven  shall  not  be  opened,  nor  shall  they 
enter  Paradise  until  a  camel  shall  enter  the  eye  of  a 
needled  In  spite  of  the  similarity  to  a  well-known 
saying  of  the  Gospel,  it  is  probable  that  there  is  no 
direct  influence  to  be  assumed.  The  proverbial 
phrase  was  current  before  Mohammed  (perhaps  even 
before  Christ),  and  Mohammed  used  it  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  precedent.  The  same  cau- 
tion which  is  advisable  in  arguing  from  these  cases  is 
true  of  such  resemblances  in  language  as  the  follow- 
ing: "  Every  soul  must  taste  of  death."  X     "  God  puts 

*  Koran  9'",  cf.  Ps.  17'^       t  ibid.  7^8,  cf.  Matt.  192*.       j  yj^vZ.  3189^ 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        55 

before  you  as  a  parable  a  man  who  is  the  slave  of 
[two  or  more]  incompatible  masters,  and  the  one  w^ho 
belongs  to  a  single  master — are  they  alike  ?  "  "^^  This 
readily  suggests  the  assertion  that  it  is  impossible  to 
serve  God  and  mammon.  Again,  the  comparison  of 
those  who  hear  and  obey  with  those  who  hear  but  do 
not  obey,  seems  to  find  an  echo  in  the  following  :  "Is 
he  who  has  founded  his  walls  upon  the  fear  of  God 
and  His  power  better,  or  he  who  has  founded  his  walls 
upon  the  edge  of  a  crumbling  precipice  and  falls  with 
it  into  the  fire  of  hell  ?  "  f  With  the  Psalmist's  asser- 
tion that  God  derides  the  plotters  against  His  Anoint- 
ed, compare :  "  God  mocks  at  tliem^  and  leaves  them 
perplexed  in  their  disobedience."  X  We  must  admit 
that  in  such  passages  there  is  always  a  possibility  of 
Biblical  influence.  But  the  other  possibility — that 
the  resemblances  are  due  to  the  other  causes  I  have 
named — is  constantly  to  be  kept  in  mind.  The 
strength  of  the  argument  to  be  based  upon  the  re- 
semblances depends  somewhat  upon  the  context  of 
each  particular  passage.  When  we  read  in  the  ac- 
count of  Pharaoh,  §  that  Moses  said  :  "  Your  hearts 
became  hard  after  this,  and  were  like  the  rock  or 
harder,"  we  suspect  from  the  connection  that  Mo- 
hammed's language  is  affected  by  Biblical  influence. 
But  in  the  other  cases  cited  we  are  not  warranted  in 
assuming,  as  the  cause  of  the  resemblance,  anything 
more  than  the  general  Semitic  cast  of  thought  and 
language  in  both  Bible  and  Koran. 

Before  we  leave  this  part  of  the  subject  it  will  be 

♦Koran  SO'",  cf.  Matt.  6^^  ^  Ihid.  9"",  cf.  Matt.  T^'-a''. 


56  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

legitimate  to  inquire  what  narrative  material  Mo- 
hammed took  from  Arabic  heathenism.  The  Koran 
is  a  book  nearly  as  large  as  the  New  Testament/'^  It 
would  be  difficult  to  fill  so  large  a  book  with  the  sim- 
ple dogmas  and  maxims  of  Islam.  We  are  not  sup- 
prised  to  find  in  it  considerable  narrative  material. 
But  very  little  of  this  material  is  drawn  from  Arabic 
sources — that  is,  from  sources  outside  of  Judaism  and 
Christianity.  Except  two  stories  of  some  length 
there  is  nothing  more  than  brief  allusions.  Among 
the  brief  allusions,  I  count  what  is  said  of  Lokman 
the  Sage.t  For  although  this  extends  to  ten  verses, 
the  verses  are  filled  with  a  sermon  of  Mohammed's 
rather  than  with  the  story  of  Lokman.  The  verses 
throw  no  light  upon  the  source  of  Mohammed's  in- 
formation, but  it  is  evident  that  Lokman  had  already 
received  in  tradition  a  place  among  Arab  heroes. 

Scarcely  more  than  an  allusion  is  v/hat  is  said 
concerning  the  army  of  the  elephant.  The  event  to 
which  the  account  refers,  is  the  destruction  of  the 
Abyssinians,  which  took  place  some  forty  years  before 
the  call  of  Mohammed — tradition  dates  it  in  the  year 
of  the  Prophet's  birth.  The  Abyssinians  had  a  trib- 
utary kingdom  in  southern  Arabia,  and  attempted  to 
extend  their  power.  In  the  vicinity  of  Mecca  the 
army  was  compelled  to  halt,  apparently  by  an  epi- 
demic of  small-pox,  by  which,  and  by  the  Bedawin,  it 

*  It  contains  about  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  number  of  words 
in  the  Arabic  translation  of  the  New  Testament  published  by  the 
Am.  Bible  Society. 

t  Koran  31''-^^.  On  the  speculations  of  the  commentators,  cf. 
Maracci,  Refutaiiones^  p.  5±7. 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        57 

was  wholly  destroyed.     Mohammed's  account,  which 
is  contained  in  one  of  his  early  suras,  is  as  follows :  ^ 

*  *  Dost  thou  not  see  how  thy  Lord  wrought  with  the  army 

of  the  elephant  ? 
Did  He  not  turn  their  cunning  into  confusion  ? 
And  send  upon  them  birds  in  companies, 
Which  threw  upon  them  stones  [like]  graven  seals, 
And  left  them  like  stubble  where  cattle  have  grazed  ?  " 

Later  writers  have  enriched  the  story  with  many 
details,  none  of  which  can  be  considered  historical. 
The  only  historic  fact  we  discover  is  that  the  army 
was  defeated.  Popular  story  ascribed  their  destruc- 
tion to  an  army  of  birds  which  threw  pebbles  upon 
them.  Whether  the  language — graven  seals — implies 
that  Mohammed  believed  the  stones  to  be  engraved 
with  the  names  of  those  for  whom  they  were  destined 
is  not  certain.  But  it  is  evident  that  he  was  inter- 
ested in  the  history  solely  for  its  religious  bearing. 
A  concern  for  history  as  history  would  have  been 
imintelligible  to  him.  What  he  valued  was  the  illus- 
tration of  the  power  of  God. 

He  was  moved  by  the  same  religious  interest  in 
selecting  the  two  longer  stories  from  Arabic  history 
to  which  I  referred  above.  These  are  the  stories  of 
Ad  and  Thamud  which  he  uses  a  number  of  times. 
It  is  indeed  almost  an  abuse  of  language  to  speak  of 
these  legends  as  history.  Ad,  described  as  a  people 
of  southern  Arabia,  may  be  wholly  mythical.  Thamud, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  the  name  of  a  tribe  which  really 

♦  Koran  105.  The  Abyssinian  King  rode  an  elephant,  whence  the 
title  of  his  army. 


58  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

existed.  The  feature  of  their  civilization  which  stands 
out  prominently  in  Mohammed's  description,  is  that 
they  make  rock  dwellings  like  those  of  Petra  :  "  And 
ye  hew  the  mountain  into  houses."  ^'  From  the  tra- 
ditions of  Mohammed's  expedition  to  Tabuk,  it  seems 
quite  certain  that  these  "  houses  "  are  the  rock  tombs 
at  Medain  Salih,  visited  and  described  by  Doughty. t 
They  had  probably  been  seen  by  Mohammed  in  one 
of  his  earlier  journeys,  for  they  lie  on  the  caravan 
road  from  the  Hejaz  to  Syria.  The  imj)ression  made 
upon  his  mind  was  very  strong.  A  people  once  pow- 
erful enough  to  sculpture  the  mountains  has  disap- 
peared by  an  act  of  God — this  was  the  fact  that  was 
so  startlingly  told  by  these  wonderful  remains.  This 
fact  exactly  suited  his  scheme  of  history.  His  was 
not  the  first  religious  mind  to  despise  details  and  to 
construct  history  to  fit  a  theory.  In  this  case  he 
filled  in  the  bare  outlines  given  by  tradition  with  de- 
tails suggested  by  his  theory.  Ad  and  Thamud  are 
made  to  conform  to  the  scheme  already  impressed 
upon  him  by  the  Biblical  narratives.  What  this 
scheme  is,  is  told  us  in  his  own  words :  X 

*  *  Have  they  not  travelled  in  the  land  and  seen  the  end 
of  those  who  preceded  them,  though  they  were  more  nu- 
merous than  they,  and  more  powerful,  and  [though  they] 
had  more  imposing  monuments  in  the  land  ?  But  what 
they  had  gained  was  of  no  avail.  When  Our  Apostles 
brought  them  clear  credentials,  they  rejoiced  in  what 
knowledge  they  [already]  possessed  ;  but  that  which  they 
scoffed  at  came  upon  them.     And  when  they  saw  the  pain 

*  Koran  V^.  f  Doughty,  Travels  in  Arabia  Deseria. 

X  Koran  40«^-8^ 


THE  COMMON  BASIS  IN  HEATHENISM        59 

sent  by  Us,  they  said  :  We  believe  in  God  alone,  and  we 
disbelieve  in  what  we  [hitherto]  associated  with  Him.  But 
the  faith  which  they  professed  when  they  saw  the  pain  sent 
by  Us,  did  not  profit  them.  Such  was  God's  method  with 
those  of  His  creatures  who  have  passed  away,  and  thus  the 
unbelievers  perished." 

This  is  the  philosophy  of  history  according  to  Mo- 
hammed. It  needs  no  argument  to  show  that  it  is 
suggested  by  the  Bible.  What  interests  us  here  is 
that  it  is  applied  not  only  to  the  Bible  stories,  but 
also  to  the  legends  received  from  Ai'abic  tradition. 
Like  the  Kaaba,  the  pilgrimage,  the  Kibla,  the  narra- 
tive material  taken  from  heathenism  was  transformed 
by  the  new  theology.  The  theology  was  strong 
enough  to  w^eld  the  apparently  incongruous  material 
into  one  system. 


LECTUEE  III. 

THE  KOKAN  NARRATIVES 

The  dependence  of  tlie  Koran  upon  the  Bible — 
whether  the  dependence  be  mediate  or  immediate  we 
do  not  now  inquire — is  evident  at  a  glance.  There 
is  not  a  page  whose  language  does  not  remind  us  of 
the  Old  Testament  or  of  the  New.  This  is  partly 
accounted  for  by  the  similarity  of  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage to  the  Hebrew,  and  also  by  the  resemblance  of 
the  civilizations  represented  in  the  two  books.  As 
was  noticed  in  the  last  lecture,  not  every  verbal 
parallel  can  be  taken  as  an  evidence  of  dependence. 
To  the  examples  there  given  we  might  add  the  fol- 
lowing :  We  read  in  one  instance  a  threat  against 
evil-doers,  which  will  be  accomplished  "  though  their 
cunning  were  such  that  mountains  would  be  moved 
by  it."  *  We  need  not  suppose  a  reminiscence  of  a 
New  Testament  phrase.  The  figure  is  natural  to  one 
who  lives  in  a  mountainous  country.  Again,  the  evil- 
doers are  said  to  devour  the  heritage  of  the  orphan.f 
The  phrase  is  strikingly  like  some  of  those  with 
which  we  are  familiar  in  the  New  Testament,  but  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  is  borrowed  from  that  source. 
So  those  ivho  expend  their  money  in  the  sight  of  men 

*  Koran  U^''. 

t  Ibid.  4'S  I  cite  the  Koran  always  from  Flugel's  edition. 

GO 


THE  KORAN  NARUATIVES  61 

are  strikingly  like  those  wlio  do  alms  that  they  may 
he  seen  of  men,^  but  tlie  plienomenon  of  ostentatious 
almsgiving  is  probably  witnessed  in  all  religions,  and 
the  identity  of  phenomena  has  produced  the  resem- 
blance of  language. 

These  reservations  are  not  numerous  or  important. 
For  considerable  portions  of  the  Koran  we  cannot 
be  in  doubt.  Nearly  all  its  narratives  are  Biblical 
stories.  But  in  no  case  are  they  exact  translations 
of  the  Biblical  text.  Quotations  even  of  a  single 
verse  are  not  easy  to  find.  The  most  diligent  search 
does  not  discover  more  than  two  or  three.  The 
reasons  for  this  are  obvious.  For  one  thing,  there 
existed  no  Arabic  translation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
time  of  Mohammed.  The  Jews  or  Christians  from 
whom  he  got  his  information  w^ere  obliged  to  give 
the  stories  in  their  own  words.  But  besides  this, 
the  Prophet  evidently  worked  over  the  material  he 
received,  to  fit  it  to  his  own  purpose.  He  was  not  a 
historian,  but  a  preacher.  He  used  the  history  to 
convey  a  lesson.  He  may  have  had  the  idea  that  he 
could  entertain  his  hearers  and  attract  them  by  relat- 
ing these  histories.  If  so,  he  was  disappointed.  The 
Meccans  openly  preferred  a  reciter  of  fairy-stories 
who  set  up  as  his  rival — perhaps  a  lesson  to  those 
who  think  the  pulpit  succeeds  if  it  entertains  its 
hearers.  How  far  Mohammed  indulged  the  hope  of 
making  his  message  attractive  by  putting  it  in  the 
form  of  stories,  it  is  not  easy  to  say.  For  the  most 
part  the  narratives  were  made  strictly  subordinate 
to  his  main  purpose,  and  we  can  understand  the  nar- 

*  Koran  4'S  cf.  Matt.  6'. 


62  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

ratives  only  as  we  keep  the  purpose  in  mind.  To 
loarn  his  hearers  of  the  ivrath  to  come — this  is  his 
main  aim,  and  this  explains  his  choice  of  material,  as 
well  as  the  form  in  which  the  material  is  presented. 
As  has  already  been  remarked,  this  purpose  is  seen 
in  his  use  of  material  from  other  than  Biblical 
sources.  The  two  histories  which  he  takes  from 
Arab  antiquity  are  cast  by  him  in  Biblical  form.  As 
he  tells  them,  both  relate  that  a  prophet  was  sent  to 
his  tribe.  The  tribe  rejects  the  prophet  and  is  pun- 
ished. These  brief  sentences  give  the  key  to  a  large 
part  of  what  we  find  in  the  Koran.  His  own  experi- 
ence is  the  light  in  which  the  author  sees  all  history. 
The  only  proof  necessary  to  adduce  for  this  propo- 
sition is  the  choice  of  material. 

The  Old  Testament  stories  used  by  Mohammed 
are  those  of  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Lot,  Joseph,  and 
Moses.  These  are  all  from  the  Pentateuch,  and  some 
of  them  are  repeated  a  number  of  times.  The  de- 
struction of  Sodom  is  given  eight  times,  as  is  the  ac- 
count of  the  flood.  The  creation  and  fall  of  Adam 
are  recounted  five  times,  while  there  are  no  less  than 
thirteen  somewhat  extended  references  to  Abraham. 
It  must  be  evident  from  this  that  the  Pentateuch 
furnishes  the  largest  part  of  the  material  borrowed 
for  narrative  purposes.  From  the  rest  of  the  Old 
Testament  he  takes  Saul,  David,  and  Solomon,  and 
he  has  allusions  to  Elijah,  Job,  Jonah,  and  Gog  and 
Magog.  But  none  of  these  receives  anything  like 
the  space  given  to  the  characters  taken  from  the 
Pentateuch. 

To  illustrate  what  I   have   said   of  Mohammed's 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  63 

motive  and  his  method  of  treatment  I  will  quote 
ouo  of  the  accounts  concerning  Noah.  It  reads  as 
follows :  ^ 

"  We  sent  Noah  to  his  people  [to  say]  :  I  am  a  plain- 
speaking  warner,  to  tell  you  that  you  must  not  serve  any 
but  Allah.  I  fear  for  you  the  punishment  of  a  distressing 
day.  The  chiefs  of  his  people  who  disbelieved,  said  ;  We 
see  that  thou  art  nothing  but  a  man  like  us,  and  we  see 
that  thy  followers  are  only  the  basest  of  us,  men  of  rash 
resolution.  We  do  not  discover  that  you  are  better  than 
we — in  fact  we  think  you  to  be  liars.  He  replied  :  O  my 
people,  if  I  have  received  a  commission  from  my  Lord,  and 
He  has  given  me  a  special  grace  which  is  unknown  to  you, 
do  you  think  that  I  shall  force  it  upon  you  when  you  are 
unwilling  ?  O,  my  people,  I  do  not  ask  riches — my  reward 
depends  on  God  alone,  and  I  will  not  drive  away  those  who 
have  believed  ;  they  shall  meet  their  Lord.  But  I  see  you 
to  be  a  people  in  ignorance.  Moreover,  O  my  people,  who 
will  be  my  helper  against  God  if  I  drive  these  away  ?  Will 
you  not  consider  ?  I  do  not  say  that  I  have  the  treasures 
of  God  [at  my  command],  and  I  do  not  know  the  secret 
things  ;  nor  do  I  say  that  I  am  an  angel,  nor  do  I  say  [as 
you  would  have  me]  that  God  will  not  bring  good  to  those 
whom  your  eyes  despise — God  knoweth  what  is  in  their 
hearts.  In  case  I  should  do  this  thing  I  should  be  a  wrong- 
doer. The  chiefs  replied :  O,  Noah,  thou  hast  disputed 
persistently  with  us — bring  now  upon  us  what  thou  hast 
threatened,  if  thou  art  truthful  !  He  said  :  God  alone  can 
bring  it  upon  you  when  He  will,  and  you  cannot  thwart  it. 
My  advice  will  not  profit  you,  if  I  wish  to  advise  you,  when 
God  wills  to  lead  you  astray.  He  is  your  Lord  and  unto 
Him  you  shall  be  brought  [at  the  last  Day].  Do  they  say  : 
He  hath  invented  it  [i.e.,  his  message]  ?  If  I  have  invented 
it,  then  the  guilt  of  it  rests  upon  me — but  I  am  innocent  of 
what  you  do.     Then  it  was  revealed  to  Noah  :  No  more  of 

♦Koran  11-"'-^^ 


64  THE  Bible  and  islam 

thy  people  will  believe  than  have  believed  already,  but  do 
not  be  distressed  at  what  they  do.  Make  an  ark  in  Our 
sight  and  according  to  Our  revelation  and  do  not  speak 
to  Me  concerning  those  who  sin — they  shall  certainly  be 
drowned.  Then  he  made  the  ark,  and  whenever  the  chiefs 
of  his  people  passed  by,  they  scoffed  at  him.  He  said  :  If 
you  scoff  at  us,  we  shall  scoff  at  you  as  you  are  scoffing — 
then  shall  you  know  upon  whom  shall  come  a  punishment 
that  shall  disgrace  him,  and  upon  whom  an  abiding  punish- 
ment shall  fall.  [So  they  scoffed]  until  Our  command 
came  and  the  fountain  broke  forth.  *  We  said  :  Place  in  it 
two  of  every  kind,  and  thy  family  (except  the  one  on  whom 
the  decree  has  passed)  and  those  who  have  believed — but 
the  believers  were  few.  Noah  said  :  Embark  !  In  the  name 
of  God  shall  be  its  sailing  and  its  mooring  ;  my  Lord  is  the 
Forgiving,  the  Compassionate.  And  it  sailed  with  them 
on  the  mountain-like  waves,  and  Noah  called  his  son  who 
stood  aloof  :  My  son  !  come  with  us  and  be  not  of  the  un- 
believers. He  replied  :  I  will  betake  myself  to  a  mountain 
which  will  save  me  from  the  water.  Noah  said  :  Nothing 
to-day  will  save  from  the  decree  of  God  unless  He  take  pity. 
Then  the  waves  came  between  them  and  he  was  drowned. 
Then  came  the  command  :  O,  Earth,  swallow  up  the  water, 
and,  O  Heaven,  cease  [from  rain]  :  and  the  water  was  di- 
minished and  the  decree  was  carried  out,  and  [the  ark]  rested 
on  al-Judee,t  and  it  was  said  :  Away  with  the  wrong-doers! 
"  Then  Noah  called  to  his  Lord  and  said  :  My  Lord,  my 
son  belonged  to  my  family  ;  and  Thy  promise  is  true  and 
Thou  art  the  most  just  of  judges.  |  God  replied  ;  O  Noah, 
he  was  not  of  thy  family.     It  were  an  unrighteous  deed  [to 

*  Literally,  until  the  oven  boiled.  As  the  word  which  ordinarily 
means  oven  also  means  2i  fountain  on  occasion,  there  is  no  need  to 
suppose  Rabbinic  or  Persian  influence. 

t  A  mountain  in  Mesopotamia. 

X  Noah  is  pleading  for  his  son,  though  he  does  not  express  his 
petition  in  so  many  words.  God  replies  to  the  unspoken  prayer, 
intimating  that  the  son  has  cut  himself  off  by  his  unbelief. 


TUB  KORAN  NARRATIVES  65 

spare  him],  so  do  not  ask  of  me  that  of  which  tliou  hast  no 
knowledge  ;  I  warn  thee  lest  thou  be  of  the  ignorant. 
Noah  said  :  My  Lord,  I  take  refuge  in  Thee  from  asking 
that  of  which  I  have  no  knowledge  ;  unless  Thou  forgive 
me  and  take  pity  on  me  I  shall  be  lost.  Then  the  com- 
mand was  given  :  O  Noah,  descend  in  peace  from  Us,  and 
blessings  upon  thee  and  upon  peoples  yet  to  come  from 
those  with  thee— but  there  are  peoples  whom  We  shall  cre- 
ate, upon  whom  a  grievous  punishment  shall  come." 

You  will  agree  with  me  that  the  Bible  story  is  used 
in  this  passage  only  to  furnish  a  framework  for  a 
sermon  to  Mohammed's  contemporaries.  The  details 
of  the  story,  those  which  in  the  Old  Testament  make 
it  so  realistic,  are  absent.  We  hear  nothing  of  the 
wickedness  of  the  sons  of  God  in  maiTying  daughters 
of  men — wdiich  in  Genesis  gives  a  reason  for  the  cor- 
ruption of  the  earth.  The  violence,  which  is  the 
specific  sin  mentioned  there,  does  not  appear  in  the 
Koran.  We  hear  nothing  of  the  size  of  the  ark,  or 
its  material.  The  duration  of  the  rain,  the  time  of 
the  subsidence  of  the  waters,  the  sending  out  of  the 
birds,  the  sacrifice  at  the  end  of  the  voyage,  and  the 
gift  of  the  rainbow  are  all  passed  over  in  silence.  On 
the  other  hand  we  hear  an  extended  dialogue  between 
Noah  and  his  people,  of  which  the  Bible  gives  us  no 
hint.  One  hint  indeed  we  find  w^iich  might  give  rise 
to  this  conception.  It  is  contained  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament where  w^e  find  Noah  described  as  a  herald  of 
righteousness.^'  It  is  this  hint,  as  I  suppose,  which 
was  worth  more  to  Mohammed  than  all  the  Old  Tes- 

♦  II.  Pet.  2^     The  Christian  tradition  in  the  Apocalypse  of  Paul 
(Walker,  Ajwcrj/phal  Gospels^   1873,  p.    491:    Antenicene  Fathers^ 
188B,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  581),  where   Noah  says  :  "I  ceased  not  to 
5 


66  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tament  details.  With  this  hint  he  reconstructed  the 
history  along  the  lines  of  his  own  experience.  The 
sinfulness  of  the  antediluvians  now  becomes  idolatry. 
Noah  is  the  Warner  sent  to  turn  them  to  the  one  God. 
C  In  the  dialogue  we  hear  the  voices  of  Mohammed 
,  and  the  Meccan  aristocracy.  As  in  the  case  of  Mo- 
hammed, it  is  the  aristocracy  who  oppose  the  preached 
word.  Noah  is  told  that  only  the  lowest  men  hear 
him — ^just  as  at  Mecca  it  was  mostly  slaves  and  freed- 
men  who  made  up  the  infant  church.  Noah  must 
hear  that  he  is  a  man  and  not  an  angel — the  implica- 
tion being  that  he  is  not  fit  to  be  a  divinely  sent  mes- 
senger. Such  was  one  of  the  objections  made  to 
Mohammed.  He  is  obliged  to  declare  that  he  is  not 
seeking  earthly  reward — an  avowal  elsewhere  made 
by  Mohammed  for  himself.  He  is  urged  to  dismiss 
his  followers ;  he  refuses,  and  then  is  challenged  to 
bring  the  threatened  punishment.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  read  between  the  lines  to  discover  that 
Mohammed  had  just  this  experience.  So  far  does 
this  go  that  Mohammed  really  falls  out  of  the  role  in 
one  verse,  where  he  replies  to  the  accusation  that  he 
had  invented  his  message.  At  least  it  sounds  as  if 
he  had  forgotten  for  the  moment  that  he  was  person- 
ating Noah.  In  one  of  the  parallel  passages  he 
shows  a  similar  lack  of  historic  imagination  where 
the  aristocracy  of  Noah's  time  are  made  to  say  to  the 
people  :  "  Do  not  abandon  your  Gods,  do  not  aban- 
don Wadd  and  Suwa ,  and  Yaghuth  and  Ya'uk  and 

proclaim  to  men  :  Repent,  for,  behold,  a  deluge  is  coming;  and  no 
one  paid  heed,  but  all  derided  me."  For  Jewish  tradition,  Wunsche, 
Midrasch  Koheletht  p.  130. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  67 

Nasr."  ^'  But  these  false  Gods  are  Gods  of  the  Arab 
tribes  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Mohammed.  The 
commentators,  who  could  not  suppose  their  Prophcit 
guilty  of  an  anachronism,  have  had  great  difficulty  in 
explaining  how  the  Gods  of  Noah's  time  survived  the 
Flood  and  continued  to  be  worshipped  in  Arabia.t 
The  problem  causes  us  no  perplexity.  We  see  how 
Mohammed  identifies  himself  with  his  predecessor 
Noah  so  fully  that  he  hardly  distinguishes  what  is 
proper  to  each  personage.  It  is  an  artistic  fault.  But 
it  testifies  to  the  religious  earnestness  of  the  man,  that 
he  cannot  get  out  of  his  mind  the  idolatry  which  is 
the  crying  sin  of  his  people. 

In  another  verse  Mohammed  reveals  to  us  some- 
thing of  his  experience — I  mean  the  one  where  God 
commands  Noah  not  to  be  distressed  at  the  small 
number  of  those  who  believed.  He  himself  was  no 
doubt  often  perplexed  and  grieved  at  the  smallness 
of  his  following.  In  his  perplexity  he  could  only  say 
that  it  was  the  will  of  God  and  therefore  must  be 
right. 

So  far,  the  story  has  been  freely  remodelled  on  the 
Biblical  basis.  But  now  we  come  to  a  feature  which 
really  contradicts  the  Biblical  data.  Noah  is  represent- 
ed as  having  an  unbelieving  son.  To  this  we  may  add 
that  in  another  passage  his  wife  is  also  represented  as 
unbelieving  and  as  perishing  :  "  God  sets  forth  as  an 
example  to  those  who  disbelieve  the  wife  of  Noah  and 
the  wife  of  Lot ;  they  were  married  to  two  of  Our 
righteous  servants,  and  were  unfaithful  to  them — their 
husbands  did  not  avail  for  them  with  God,  and  the 

*  Koran  7r-2f-  f  Cf.  Wellhausen,  Skizzen,  III.,  p.  11  ff. 


eS  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

command  went  forth  :  Enter  the  Fire  with  those  who 
are  entering  therein."  "*  These  divergences  show 
how  freely  Mohammed  treats  his  sources.  For  the 
preaching  of  Noah  and  the  scoffing  of  his  contempo- 
raries he  had  authority  in  Jewish  or  Christian  tradi- 
tion. But  no  one  has  yet  pointed  out  a  precedent 
for  the  particulars  we  are  now  considering.  We  are 
authorized  in  supposing  that  the  preacher  drew  on 
his  own  experience  for  these  as  for  other  matters  of 
detail.  And  we  do  not  have  far  to  seek  for  the  ex- 
perience. Doubtless  there  were  families  in  Mecca 
which  were  divided — father  against  son.  In  fact,  we 
hear  of  such  in  the  traditions,  and  we  know  that  Mo- 
hammed's own  nearest  relatives  did  not  believe  on 
him.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  he  found  here  the  only 
precedent  he  needed  in  order  to  suppose  members  of 
Noah's  family  unsaved  in  the  gTeat  catastrophe. 

The  Biblical  character  which  next  claims  our  atten- 
tion is  Abraham,  whose  importance  to  Mohammed 
is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  Biblical  character. 
Whether  he  were  already  adopted  in  the  legends  of 
the  heathen  Arabs,  as  has  been  supposed,  is  very 
doubtful.  Mohammed  makes  him  the  builder  of  the 
Kaaba,  and  therefore  the  founder  of  Mecca  ;  but  this 
may  be  a  construction  of  his  own.  The  other  inci- 
dents of  Abraham's  history  given  in  the  Koran  are 
the  following :  He  disputed  with  someone  about  the 
true  God,  and  was  the  victor ;  he  prayed  for  evidence 
of  the  resurrection,  and  was  commanded  to  cut  four 
birds  in  pieces,  to  lay  the  pieces  on  separate  hill-tops, 
and  then  to  call  the  birds.     On  following  out  the  di- 

*  Koran  66io. 


THE  KORAN  NAHUATiYES  69 

roctions,  the  pieces  flew  together  and  the  birds  were 
restored  to  life.     He  entertained  the  angels  who  were 
sent  to  destroy  Sodom,  received  from  them  the  prom- 
ise of  a  son,  and  interceded  for  the  preservation  of 
Sodom,  though  without  success.     Pie  refused  to  adore 
the  idols  of  his  father ;  for  this  he  was  thrown  into 
the  fire,  but   came  out  unharmed.     He  was  driven 
from  home  by  his  father.     He  was  commanded  in  a 
dream  to  sacrifice  his  son  (whose  name  is  not  given), 
and  was  about  to  consummate  the  sacrifice  when  he 
was  allowed  to  substitute  an  animal."^     A  point  em- 
phasized is  that  he  was  neither  Jew  nor  Christian, 
but  (if  I  may  so  say)  a  simple  believer  without  the 
sectarian  marks  which  distinguish,  and  therefore  di- 
vide, these  :  "  0  People  of  Scripture  !     Why  do  you 
dispute   concerning   Abraham?     The   Tora   and  the 
Gospel  were  not  revealed  until  after  his  time — do  you 
not   comprehend?     Abraham   was   neither  Jew  nor 
Christian,  but  he  was  a  hanif,  he  was  resigned,  and 
he  was  not  one  of  the  idolaters."  t     The  word  hanif 
has  given  rise  to  much  speculation.     For  our  present 
purpose  it  is  enough  to  note  that  in  the  Koran  it 
means  turning  aside  from  idols.     It  is  the  appropriate 
vrord  to  describe  a  man  like  Abraham  who  abandoned 
the  false  Gods  and  became  a  monotheist.     It  is  this 
characteristic  which  makes  Abraham  of  so  much  im- 
portance to  Mohammed.     He  sees  in  him  his  prede- 
cessor and  model.     The  Jews  and  the  Christians  had 
received  revelations  in  written  form— this  is  what  he 

*  Koran  2^^^>  ",  II-2  ff,  15  1  "^  ol-''-3«,  21-^9  f,  37^5,  1947,  3710Q  if, 
Abraham  is  mentioned  in  twenty-six  different  suras 
t  Ibid.  3^8.6.. 


70  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

recognizes  in  calling  them  people  of  the  Book.  But 
the  result  had  been  to  produce  division  and  mutual 
recrimination.  "  The  Jews  (he  says)  say :  The 
Christians  have  no  firm  foundation ;  and  the  Chris- 
tians say  :  The  Jews  have  no  firm  foundation.  Yet 
they  read  the  Scripture."  ^  The  only  way  to  put  an 
end  to  the  disputes  of  these  sects  is  to  go  back  to  the 
simple  monotheism  of  Abraham.  In  this  theory  Mo- 
hammed was  the  pioneer  of  church  union,  and  his  is 
not  the  only  attempt  to  unite  two  bodies  of  believers 
which  has  resulted  in  forming  a  third. 

But  this  is  aside  from  our  main  purpose.  Moham- 
med regards  Abraham  as  his  model,  and  describes 
himself  in  the  terms  which  he  applies  to  Abraham  : 
"  Who  has  a  more  excellent  religion  than  one  who  re- 
signs himself  to  God  while  doing  good  works,  and 
who  follows  the  faith  of  Abraham  as  one  who  turns 
aside  from  idols  [literally,  as  a  hanif] — for  God  took 
Abraham  as  His  friend;"  "The  nearest  of  men  to 
Abraham  are  those  who  follow  him,  and  this  prophet 
[Mohammed]  also  is  one  of  them."  f  In  taking  this 
position,  Mohammed  was  only  following  the  precedent 
set  by  the  Apostle  Paul.  In  justifying  himself  for 
giving  up  the  Jewish  Law,  while  still  claiming  to  be- 
long to  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,  Paul  argued  by  the 
example  of  Abraham.  It  was  conceded  that  Abra- 
ham was  a  true  believer,  the  Father  of  the  Faithful. 
But  if  this  be  so,  religion  cannot  consist  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Law,  for  the  Law  came  into  force 
long  after  Abraham's  death.  For  the  true  believer  it 
must  be  enough  to  go  back  to  the  simplicity  of  Abra- 

*  Koran  2  ".  f  Ibid.  4i24,  3-1, 


THE  KOliAN  NARRATIVES  71 

ham's  religion.  The  argument  of  Moliammecl  is  just 
the  same,  only  he  does  not  set  it  forth  with  the  same 
array  of  logic.  To  the  Jews  who  insisted  that  he 
must  become  a  Jew  in  order  to  be  saved,  and  to  the 
Christians  who  insisted  that  he  must  become  a  Chris- 
tian in  order  to  be  saved,  Mohammed  made  the  per- 
tinent reply  that  Abraham  lived  the  life  of  faith  before 
the  coming  of  either  of  their  codes.  The  essentials 
of  religion  must  consist  in  such  faith  as  Abraham 
had,  and  this  (according  to  his  light)  Mohammed 
adopted  and  preached.  To  him,  just  as  truly  as  to 
Paul,  Abraham  was  the  Father  of  the  Faithful. 

How  much  direct  New  Testament  influence  led  to 
this  view  of  Abraham  ?  In  the  meagreness  of  the 
sources  w^e  are  not  able  to  answer  this  question  with 
positiveness.  In  general,  Mohammed  does  not  show 
much  familiarity  with  the  thought  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  But  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  some  New 
Testament  hint  concerning  the  position  of  Abraham 
as  the  Father  of  Believers  had  come  to  him.  It 
needs  only  a  hint  of  that  wdth  which  we  are  in  sym- 
pathy to  give  us  a  flood  of  light.  As  showing  that 
there  was  New  Testament  influence  we  may  note  that 
w^e  find  Mohammed  calling  Abraham  the  Friend  of 
God — a  point  mentioned  both  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  in  the  New,  but  more  distinctly  brought  out  in 
the  New.* 

For  other  features  of  the  Koran  picture  we  must 
consult  both  Bible  and  tradition.  Even  then  w^e  dis- 
cover that  Mohammed  dealt  freely  with  his  sources. 
Tlie  incident  of  the  birds  and  the  night  covenant  was 

*  Is.  41^;  James  2-^. 


72  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

unintelligible  to  him,  as  it  doubtless  is  to  many  a  Chris- 
tian reader  as  well.  But  he  could  use  it  as  a  proof 
of  the  resurrection — something  of  which  he  felt  the 
need  in  his  preaching.  He  therefore  transformed  it 
into  something  quite  different  from  the  Biblical  story. 
In  regard  to  the  dispute  concerning  the  power  of  God, 
the  Koran  tells  us  only  of  an  anonymous  opponent 
who  claimed  to  be  the  giver  of  life  and  of  death — 
and  therefore  to  be  God.  Abraham  replied  :  My 
Lord  makes  the  sun  to  rise  in  the  East,  do  thou  make 
it  rise  in  the  West  ? — whereat  the  infidel  w^as  put  to 
confusion.  In  this  story  we  have  the  tradition  of 
Abraham's  dispute  with  Nimrod,  which  was  current 
among  Jews  and  Christians  before  Mohammed's  time. 
It  was  especially  pat  to  Mohammed's  purpose  because 
it  confounded  the  idolater. 

Another  legend  current  among  both  Jews  and 
Christians  w^as  useful  in  the  same  line.  It  makes 
Terah,  Abraham's  father,  to  be  a  dealer  in  idols. 
One  day  Abraham  was  left  in  charge  of  the  shop,  and 
a  woman  came  with  an  offering  of  food.  Abraham 
set  it  before  the  largest  idol,  broke  all  the  other  idols 
and  put  a  club  in  the  hands  of  the  large  one.  When 
his  father  asked  about  it  he  said :  the  idols  quarrelled 
over  the  food ;  then  the  largest  one  became  angry, 
took  the  club  and  broke  the  rest  in  pieces.  Terah 
declared  this  to  be  impossible  because  the  images 
could  not  move,  whereupon  Abraham  convicted  him 
out  of  his  own  mouth,  which  confessed  him  to  be  a 
worshipper  of  that  w^hich  had  no  power.  Neverthe- 
less Abraham  was  brought  before  Nimrod  and  thrown 
into  a  fiery  furnace,  from  which  he  was  saved  by  a 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  73 

miracle.  Mohammed  bad  no  objection  to  taking  a 
story  from  tradition  rather  than  from  the  Biblical 
text — if  indeed  he  knew  the  difference.  That  he  took 
this  one  from  a  Christian  source  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  he  calls  Abraham's  father  by  the  name 
Azar,  which  is  quite  similar  to  what  we  find  in  a 
Christian  writer,  though  quite  unhke  the  Hebrew 
Terah.^  The  Book  of  Jubilees,  which  circulated 
largely  among  both  Jews  and  Christians,  knows  the 
story  of  Abraham's  controversy  with  his  father  about 
the  idols,  so  that  there  is  no  difficulty  in  attributing 
Mohammed's  knowledge  to  Christian  tradition. f 

But  it  is  clear  that  we  cannot  trace  all  the  feat- 
ures of  Mohammed's  xlbraham  to  preceding  authori- 
ties, either  Jewish  or  Christian.  The  main  incidents 
came  originally  from  the  Bible — so  much  is  evident. 
Some  of  the  variations  or  additions  can  be  account- 
ed for  on  the  theory  that  they  are  borrowed  from 
Jewish  or  Christian  sources  outside  the  Bible.  But 
others  cannot  be  so  accounted  for,  and  can,  in  the 

*  Athar  is  the  name  of  Abraham's  father  in  Eusebius  according  to 
Sale,  note  on  6'*.  He  probably  got  his  knowledge  from  Maracci, 
Prodromvs  ad  Refutationem  Alcorani  (1698),  Pars  IV.,  p.  90,  which 
is  also  cited  by  Geiger,  Was  hat  Mohammed  aus  dem  Judenthum 
Aufgenommen  (1833),  p  128.  Maracci  only  says  :  apud  Eusehium 
in  Historia  Ecclesiasiica.  The  story  of  Abraham  and  the  idols  is 
found  in  Midrasch  Bereschith  Rabba^  Uebersetzt  von  Wiinsche,  Par. 
88  (p.  173).  It  is  quoted  also  by  Geiger,  I.  c,  p.  124.  Among 
Christian  authorities  Jerome,  Questiones  HehraiccB  in  Genesim  (on 
Gen.  11-8),  Op.  ed.  Vallarsius  (1767),  III.,  c.  323,  cf.  IV.,  c.  779, 
speaks  of  Abraham's  being  tlirown  into  the  fire. 

t  Ewald,  Jahrbiicher^  III.,  p.  3.  Griinbaum,  A^eue  Beitrdge  zur 
Semitischen  Sagenknnde  (1893),  p.  96,  says  that  tlie  story  is  also 
given  by  Ephraem  Syrus. 


74  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

present  state  of  our  knowledge,  be  attributed  only  to 
Mohammed  himself,  working  under  the  belief  that 
Abraham  was  for  him  a  predecessor  and  a  model. 

As  we  have  seen,  Mohammed's  scheme  of  history 
is  writ  large  in  these  stories  of  former  prophets.  Ac- 
cording to  him,  the  past  ages  are  a  series  of  proj^hetic 
crises.  In  each  one,  a  prophet  has  been  sent  to  his 
people  to  warn  them  against  sin.  His  usual  experi- 
ence is  that  his  hearers  refuse  the  message  and  mock 
or  persecute  him.  Not  long  after,  the  calamity  over- 
takes them  and  they  perish.  The  prophet,  with  a 
few  followers,  is  spared.  In  each  of  these  cycles,  the 
account  is  colored  by  Mohammed's  own  experience. 
Even  the  tribes  of  Arabia  which  have  perished,  have 
perished  for  the  same  reasons,  and  their  prophets 
speak  the  language  of  rebuke  and  warning  just  like 
their  brethren  of  the  Biblical  history.  This  con- 
stant iteration  is  one  reason  for  the  tediousness  of 
the  Koran.  But  a  little  reflection  will  show  us  that 
something  of  the  same  monotony  is  found  in  all 
preaching.  The  truths  of  religion  are  comparatively 
few  and  simple.  The  prophet  is  not  infrequently 
accused  of  repeating  himself.  Even  an  Isaiah  was 
mocked  for  bringing  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon 
precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  as  though  he 
were  teaching  children  just  weaned  from  the  milk. 
We  shall  not  be  surprised  to  find  in  the  Koran  the 
same  lesson  repeatedly  enforced  when  we  remember 
how  long  the  prophet  of  Mecca  addressed  deaf  ears 
and  unbelieving  hearts.  The  sameness  of  the  lesson, 
whatever  the  particular  incident  which  illustrates  it, 
makes  it  unnecessary  for  us  to  go  at  length  into  all 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  75 

the  material.  There  is  one  character,  however,  to 
which  we  must  devote  a  little  time,  and  that  is  Moses. 

From  w^hat  has  been  said  about  Abraham,  it  is 
evident  that  Mohammed  w^ould  have  formulated  his 
scheme  of  the  world's  history  about  as  follows  :  There 
has  always  been  in  the  world  one  true  religion.  This 
has  been  revealed  without  substantial  variation  to 
different  prophets  from  Adam  down  :  "  [God]  has 
established  for  you  the  religion  which  He  command- 
ed Noah,  and  that  which  We  revealed  to  thee,  and 
that  which  We  commanded  Abraham  and  Moses  and 
Jesus,  saying :  Observe  the  true  religion  and  do  not 
be  divided  among  yourselves."  ^  When  the  Jews  and 
Christians  insisted  on  the  confession  of  their  faith  as 
necessary  for  salvation,  Mohammed  instructed  his 
followers  to  say :  "  We  believe  in  God  and  in  what 
has  been  revealed  to  us,  and  in  w^hat  was  revealed  to 
Abraham  and  Ishmael  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  the 
twelve  tribes,  and  in  what  w^as  given  to  Moses  and  to 
Jesus,  and  what  w^as  given  to  the  prophets  by  their 
Lord.  We  make  no  difference  between  them  and  we 
are  resigned  to  Him."  The  position  could  scarcely  be 
stated  more  clearly,  and  the  choice  of  Noah,  Abraham, 
Moses,  and  Jesus  is  a  particularly  happy  one,  and 
show^s  that  Mohammed  had  really  grasped  the  Bibli- 
cal scheme — for  these  men  stand  at  the  opening  of 
the  great  epochs  of  sacred  history. 

The  name  of  Moses,  the  one  to  whom  we  now 
come,  occurs  in  thirty-four  suras  of  the  Koran,  and 
his  history  is  given  at  length  in  a  number  of  these.t 

*42",  cf.  2'3o. 

j.  238-103^  7101.154^  20''-",  26^-««  arc  the  most  extonded.  SoniOAvliat 
briefer  are  27"  ff,  2S-^-3^  W^-'^K 


70  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  fact  that  it  is  given  so  many  times  should  caution 
us  against  seeking  the  oiigin  of  the  variations  from 
the  Biblical  text  in  Kabbinical  or  Patristic  sources. 
It  is  not  likely  that  Mohammed  received  the  account 
from  an  informant  more  than  once.  Having  it  once 
in  his  possession,  he  felt  at  liberty  to  treat  it  accord- 
ing to  the  varying  exigencies  of  difierent  times.  The 
account  which  is  earliest  in  point  of  time  (to  all  ap- 
pearance) is  comparatively  brief,  and  it  shows  that 
the  Prophet  vv^as  moved,  as  in  all  his  earlier  preaching, 
by  the  thought  of  God's  judgment :  "  Has  the  story 
of  Moses  come  to  thee  ?  When  his  Lord  called  him 
in  the  sacred  valley  of  Tuwa  [He  said] :  Go  to 
Pharaoh  the  arrogant  and  say  to  him :  Wilt  thou  be- 
come pure  ?  I  will  guide  thee  to  thy  Lord,  and  thou 
shalt  fear  Him.  Then  he  showed  him  a  great  mir- 
acle. But  Pharaoh  accused  him  of  deceit  and  was 
rebellious.  He  turned  his  back,  exciting  disorder. 
Then  he  collected  the  people  and  said :  I  am  your 
Lord  most  high !  But  God  destroyed  him  with  the 
punishments  of  this  world  and  of  the  world  to  come. 
Verily  this  is  a  warning  to  him  that  fears  God."  *  For 
the  purpose  of  the  speaker  this  is  an  admirable  epit- 
ome of  the  story  of  Moses.  It  shows  just  the  points 
which  Mohammed  wished  to  emphasize,  that  is  : 
those  parallel  with  his  own  case.  Even  here  he  does 
not  adhere  strictly  to  the  Biblical  account,  for  we 
nowhere  read  that  Pharaoh  claimed  to  be  God.  This 
is  borrowed  evidently  from  Mohammed's  informant, 
and  the  same  feature  is  found  in  fact  in  Jewish 
authorities. 


TUE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  77 

In  the  more  extended  accounts  which  Mohammed 
elsewhere  gives,  we  find  details  taken  from  Christian 
as  well  as  Jewish  sources,  besides  some  which  are 
due  to  the  narrator's  ow^n  imagination.  From  Jewish 
tradition  he  asserts  :  that  Moses  refused  all  Egyptian 
nurses ;  that  the  people  at  Mount  Sinai  demanded 
to  see  God,  and  on  seeing  Him  fell  dead,  but  w^ere 
revived  by  divine  power ;  and  that  they  refused  to 
accept  the  covenant  until  the  mountain  was  lifted  up 
bodily  and  held  over  them.-  The  information  that 
the  golden  calf,  through  the  magic  of  its  maker, 
beUoived,  is  found  in  Eabbinical  sources,  and  a  similar 
affirmation  is  made  of  another  golden  calf  in  a  Chris- 
tian writer  of  the  tenth  century. t  Mohammed  makes 
the  magicians  of  Pharaoh  repent  and  confess  the  true 
God.  This  is  perhaps  a  legitimate  deduction  from 
the  Old  Testament  account,  in  vv^hich  they  are  said  to 
recognize  the  finger  of  God. J  No  Jewish  document 
has  been  found  which  makes  the  deduction,  biit  we 
know  of  a  Christian  apocryphon,  now  lost,  which  was 
entitled :  Liber  Poenitentice  Jamnoi  et  3Iamhrce.  Jamnes 
and  Mambres,  I  hardly  need  say,  are  the  traditional 
names  of  the  magicians.§  We  are  justified,  there- 
fore, in  supposing  this  item  borrowed  from  a  Chris- 
tian source. 

There  remain  a  number  of  data  which  are  due  to 

*2S",  2^^'^o,  7^'°. 

t  T'-'S  20^*^.  On  the  Rabbinical  authorities  cf.  Gciger,  Was  hat 
Mohammed^  etc.,  pp.  155-172.  The  lowing  of  the  golden  calf  at 
Gilgal  on  the  day  of  Elisha's  birth  is  spoken  of  in  the  Book  of  ihe 
Bee^  Budge's  translation,  p.  70. 

:  Ex.  8",  English  version  8'»;  Koran  20"'  ". 

§  11.  Tim.  3%  cf.  Dillmann  in  V.  R.  E.',  XII.,  p.  365. 


78  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Mohammed's  own  imagination,  or  which  simply  wit- 
ness to  his  ignorance  of  the  Bible  account.  Thus  : 
he  gives  the  plagues  at  one  time  as  five  and  again  as 
nine  in  number  ;  *  he  makes  Haman  one  of  the  coun- 
sellors of  Pharaoh ;  f  he  supposes  the  buildings  of 
Pharaoh  to  have  been  destroyed,  and  that  the  mur- 
murers  against  Moses  returned  to  Egypt ;  %  yet,  in 
another  passage,  he  seems  to  affirm  that  Israel  pos- 
sessed the  country  of  Pharaoh  after  him.§  That 
Moses  repented  of  having  killed  the  Egyptian  is  a 
minor  addition  which  we  can  easily  account  for,  and  it 
is  not  a  serious  error  that  Pharaoh's  wife  is  made  to 
care  for  Moses,  instead  of  his  daughter.  II  Confusion 
of  Moses  with  Jacob  is  the  evident  cause  of  the 
assertion  that  Moses  served  eight  years  for  a  wife, 
and  a  similar  confusion  of  Egypt  with  Babylon  shows 
itself  when  Pharaoh  orders  the  people  to  make  brick : 
"  that  I  may  make  a  lofty  building,  so  as  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  God  of  Moses — though,  indeed, 
I  think  him  to  be  a  liar."  IF 

Almost  all  these  departures  from  the  Biblical  nar- 
rative occur  in  late  chapters,  and  they  show  what 
has  already  been  remarked,  that  as  time  went  on, 
the  preacher  became  less  careful  (if,  indeed,  he  ever 
was  careful)  of  historical  accuracy,  and  adapted  his 
material  more  freely  to  the  purpose  in  hand.  In  the 
use  of  this  material  we  can  see  the  influence  of  his 
own  changed  circumstances.  Few  characters  in  his- 
tory have  experienced  a  greater  change  of  fortune 
than  fell  to   the   lot  of  Mohammed  in  going  from 

*  7130   17103  +  28"''^.  ■•■  7'^''  2^^. 

§  26-''-^».  II  28"'  '^  f.  1  28-^'  ^8. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  79 

Mecca  to  Medina.  At  Mecca  he  was  the  proscribed 
preacher  of  a  new  religion.  His  followers  were  few 
in  number,  and  the  majority  of  these  had  fled  to 
Abyssinia.  His  persecution  by  the  leading  men  of 
the  city  took  away  from  him  every  occupation  of  a 
secular  nature.  Even  the  public  proclamation  of  his 
message  was  forbidden  after  a  time.  All  that  was 
open  to  him  was  meditation,  prayer,  and  the  encour- 
agement of  a  very  narrow  circle  of  friends.  With  the 
removal  to  Medina  all  this  was  changed.  The  cares 
of  administration  were  thrust  upon  him.  His  life 
became  a  life  of  activity  instead  of  contemplation, 
and  his  sermons  necessarily  dealt  with  the  concrete 
issues  of  the  hour. 

The  reason  for  calling  attention  to  this  fact  at  just 
this  point  is  that  one  of  the  longer  histories  of  Moses 
in  the  Koran  can  be  understood  only  from  this  situa- 
tion of  the  Prophet.  It  is  really  a  polemic  against 
the  Jews.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  Moham- 
med came  to  Medina  with  great  expectations,  based 
on  the  fact  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  population 
was  Jewish.  He  sincerely  believed  his  religion  to 
be  the  same  as  theirs.  He  was  sure  that  he  was  the 
legitimate  successor  of  their  prophets.  What  would 
be  more  natural  than  that  they  should  join  his  com- 
munity, or  at  least  that  his  followers  and  they  should 
unite  on  a  common  basis  of  recognition  ?  With  this 
idea  he  made  Jerusalem  his  Kibia,  and  assimilated 
his  doctrine  to  theirs.  But  he  was  speedily  unde- 
ceived. The  Jews  were  wholly  guided  by  their 
Rabbis,  who  had  no  mind  to  a  prophet  born  out  of 
Palestine.     They  refused  to  see  the  marks  of  their 


80  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

expected  Messiah  in  the  Meccan  adventurer.  They 
were,  moreover,  conscious  of  their  intellectual  supe- 
riority. They  had  studied  the  sacred  Books  which 
were  in  their  hands.  Mohammed  conceded  the 
authority  of  these  Books,  but  he  was  on! 3^  slightly 
acquainted  with  their  contents.  In  arguing  from 
them  the  Jews  had  an  evident  advantage,  and  often 
put  the  Moslems  to  silence.  At  last  Mohammed  was 
obHged  to  forbid  his  followers  to  argue  with  the 
Jews,  and  he  accused  these  of  concealing  portions  of 
their  revelation. 

This  certainly  could  not  conduce  to  harmony,  and 
Mohammed  early  realized  that  he  had  to  deal  with 
men  less  open  to  conviction  than  the  heathen.  The 
Jews,  on  their  part,  did  not  see  the  danger  of  trifling 
with  a  man  who  was  in  dead  earnest,  and  who  now 
had  the  sword  in  his  hand.  Their  more  instructed 
men  would  lay  traps  for  Mohammed  in  their  talks 
with  him,  and  when  he  betrayed  his  ignorance,  as  he 
would  naturally  betray  it  in  such  circumstances,  they 
would  go  away  and  in  their  own  circle  make  merry 
over  his  laughable  blunders.  Arab  satire  travels  fast, 
it  travels  far,  and  it  bites  hard.  We  can  easily  con- 
ceive the  situation  of  a  prophet  in  a  mixed  community, 
ridiculed  in  couplets  that  were  in  the  mouths  of  all 
who  were  hostile  or  who  were  lukewarm.  The  insults 
were  the  harder  to  bear  in  that  they  were  directed 
against  beliefs  which  had  become  sacred  to  him.  They 
seemed  to  him  blasphemies  against  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  he  never  forgave  them.  The  expatriation  of  one 
Jewish  tribe,  and  the  extermination  of  another,  were 
only  part  of  his  answer. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  81 

It  was  before  the  open  breach  came  that  the  follow- 
ing review  of  the  history  of  Israel  was  delivered : 

**  O  Children  of  Israel !  Remember  My  grace  which  I  con- 
ferred upon  you  [when  I  said] :  Keep  the  covenant  with  Me 
and  I  will  keep  the  covenant  with  you  ;  and  fear  Me  and 
believe  in  what  I  have  revealed  in  confirmation  of  what  you 
already  possess,*  and  be  not  the  first  to  disbelieve.  And 
do  not  sell  My  wonders  for  a  small  price,  f  but  fear  Me.  Do 
not  cover  up  the  truth  with  falsehood,  nor  conceal  the 
truth  which  you  know.  %  But  observe  prayer  and  give  alms 
and  boAv  Avith  those  who  bow  down.  Will  you  command 
men  good  actions  but  forget  them  yourselves  ?  §  Yet  you 
read  the  Scriptures ;  do  you  not  comprehend  ?  Practise 
therefore  patience  and  prayer — this  is  difficult  except  for 
the  humble,  who  are  mindful  that  one  day  they  must  meet 
their  Lord  and  that  they  are  to  return  to  Him. 

*  *  O,  Children  of  Israel !  Remember  My  grace  which  I 
have  conferred  upon  you,  in  that  I  have  distinguished  you 
above  the  worlds  ;  and  fear  the  day  w^hen  one  soul  shall  not 
pay  the  debt  of  another,  nor  shall  its  intercession  be  received 
nor  a  ransom  be  accepted  nor  aid  be  given.  And  [remem- 
ber] when  We  saved  you  from  the  tribe  of  Pharaoh  who  in- 
flicted upon  you  a  grievous  calamity  in  that  they  slew  your 
sons  while  they  preserved  alive  your  daughters  (this  was  a 
severe  trial  from  your  Lord );  and  when  We  divided  the  sea 
for  you  and  delivered  you,  but  drowned  the  host  of  Pha- 
raoh while  you  looked  on.  But  when  We  gave  the  promises 

♦  That  is,  the  Scriptures. 

t  An  accusation  elsewhere  made  against  the  Jews,  reminding  us 
of  Paul's  charge  that  the  idolaters  exchange  the  truth  of  God  for  a 
lie.  Possibly  Mohammed  thought  the  Jewish  scribes  forged  versea 
which  tliey  sold  as  Biblical. 

X  This  means  :  the  Jews  deny  that  their  Scriptures  contain  what 
Mohammed  says  they  contain. 

§  Paul  also  accuses  the  Jews  of  teaching  the  Law  to  others,  at  the 
same  lime  violating  it  themselves,  Rom.  2. 
6 


82  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to  Moses  forty  nights,  then  you  took  the  calf  in  his  absence 
and  transgressed.  Yet  We  forgave  you,  thinking  perhaps 
you  would  be  grateful.  We  gave  Moses  the  Book  and  the 
Distinction,*  that  you  might  be  rightly  led;  and  Moses  said 
to  his  people  :  O,  my  people  !  you  have  wronged  your  own 
souls  in  taking  the  calf  ;  repent  in  presence  of  your  Cre- 
ator or  else  kill  each  other  f — this  were  better  for  you  with 
Him — He  will  forgive  you,  He  is  the  Forgiving,  the  Com- 
passionate. And  when  you  said  :  O,  Moses,  we  will  not 
believe  in  thee  unless  we  see  God  clearly,  the  thunderbolt 
struck  you  while  you  gazed,  but  We  brought  you  to  life 
after  you  had  died,  thinking  perhaps  you  would  be  grate- 
ful. And  We  shaded  you  with  the  cloud  X  and  sent  you  the 
manna  and  the  quails,  saying  :  Eat  of  the  good  things  with 
which  We  nourish  you  (they  did  not  harm  Us  but  it  was 
their  own  souls  that  they  harmed).  And  when  We  said : 
Enter  this  city  and  eat  of  it  abundantly  whenever  you 
choose,  but  enter  the  gate  bowing  down  and  asking  forgive- 
ness— We  will  forgive  your  sins  and  will  certainly  prosper 
those  who  do  well— then  the  evil-doers  substituted  a  word 
different  from  the  one  which  was  commanded  them,  and  we 
sent  upon  the  evil-doers  a  pestilence  for  their  iniquity.  And 
when  Moses  asked  water  for  his  people,  We  said  :  Strike 
the  rock  with  thy  staff ;  and  there  broke  from  it  twelve 
fountains,  every  one  knew  his  drinking  place  [and  We 
said] :  Eat  and  drink  of  the  sustenance  given  by  God,  and 
do  not  deal  unjustly  in  the  earth,  creating  disorder.  And 
when  you  said  :  O,  Moses,  we  cannot  bear  this  one  kind  of 
food,  ask  of  thy  Lord  that  He  bring  forth  for  us  of  the 

*  The  book  which  distinguishes  between  right  and  wrong.  Pos- 
sibly Mohammed  thinks  of  the  Mosaic  tradition  (the  Mishna)  which 
expounds  the  regulations  of  the  Law  more  exactly. 

t  0-r,  Kill  yourselves.  The  sense  is  obscure.  The  Arab  com- 
mentator makes  it  mean  mortify  your  lusts.,  but  that  is  hardly  Mo- 
hammed's intention.  I  suspect  a  reminiscence  of  the  fact  that  the 
Levites  fell  upon  the  idolatrous  people  and  slew  them. 

X  Evidently  the  pillar  of  cloud. 


TUE  KOIiAN  NARRATIVES  83 

fruits  of  the  earth,  vegetables  and  cucumbers,  and  garlic 
and  lentils,  and  onions,  he  said  :  Will  you  prefer  the  worse 
to  the  better  ?  Return  to  Egypt  and  you  shall  have  what 
you  ask.  And  they  were  smitten  with  abasement  and  pov- 
erty and  returned  with  the  anger  of  God  upon  them.  This 
was  because  they  disbelieved  in  the  signs  of  God  and  killed 
the  prophets  wrongfully;  this  it  was  in  which  they  rebelled 
and  transgressed.  Those  who  believe,  though  they  be  Jews 
or  Christians  or  Sabeans — whoever  believes  in  God  and  the 
Last  Day,  and  does  good,  receives  a  reward  from  his  Lord. 
Fear  shall  not  come  upon  them  nor  shall  they  be  grieved. 

**  And  when  We  made  a  covenant  Avith  you  and  lifted 
the  mountain  above  you,  saying  :  Receive  with  steadfast- 
ness what  We  have  brought  you  and  remember  what  it 
contains — perchance  you  will  be   God-fearing — then  you 
turned  back  ;  and  had  not  the  grace  of  God  been  upon  you 
and  His  mercy,  you  would  have  been  lost.     You  know  who 
of  you  transgressed  the  Sabbath,  and  AVe  said  to  them  : 
Become  abhorred  apes  !     Thus  We  made  them  an   exam- 
ple to  their  fellows,  and  to   those  who  should  come  after 
them  and  a  warning  to  those  who  feared  God.     And  when 
Moses  said  to  his  people  :  God  commands  you  to  sacrifice  a 
heifer  ;  they  replied  :  Art  thou  making  a  mock  of  us  ?  He 
said  :  I  take  refuge  in  God  from  being  one  of  the  ignorant  ! 
Then  they  said  :  Pray  thy  Lord  for  us  that  He  would  ex- 
plain to  us  what  sort  of  a  heifer  it  should  be.     Moses  re- 
plied :  She  is  to  be  neither  old  nor  young,  but  of  a  medium 
age,  therefore  do  what  you  are  commanded  !     They  said  : 
Pray  thy  Lord  to  tell  us  plainly  of  what  color  she  should 
be.     He  replied  :  It  is  commanded  that  she  should  be  of  a 
bright  red,  a  color  which  pleases  the  beholder.     Then  they 
said  :  Pray  thy  Lord  to  describe  her  plainly  to  us — we  have 
cattle  that  look  alike,  and  wc  would  be  guided  if  God 
please.     Moses  replied  :  It  is  commanded  that  she  be  not 
broken  to  till  the  ground  or  to  water  the  fields,  sound.* 
and  without  spot.     They  said  :  Now  thou  bringest  a  true 

♦  Not  approached  by  the  male. 


84  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

message.  So  they  sacrificed  her,  but  they  were  near  not 
domg  it.  And  when  you  killed  a  man,  and  quarrelled  con- 
cerning the  deed  (but  God  brought  to  light  what  you  were 
concealing),  then  We  said  :  Touch  the  dead  man  with  a 
part  of  the  heifer  ;  thus  God  brings  to  life  the  dead,  and 
shows  you  His  signs — perchance  you  will  comprehend.* 
But  even  after  this  your  hearts  were  hard,  even  like  rock 
or  harder,  for  there  are  rocks  from  which  streams  spring, 
and  there  are  those  which  open  and  let  the  water  flow  ;  and 
there  are  [hearts]  which  bow  in  fear  of  God,  and  God  is  not 
unmindful  of  v/hat  you  do."f 

Wlien  we  read  this  tremendous  indictment  we  see 
that  tlie  Biblical  facts  are  used  for  a  purpose.  And 
they  are  used  with  skill.  The  Jews  could  not  deny 
the  most  of  the  facts  here  recited.  They  were  guilty, 
or  at  least  their  fathers  were  guilty  —  as  charged. 
The  position  of  Mohammed  is  precisely  the  position 
of  the  New  Testament,  as  shoAvn  in  the  speech  of 
Stephen.  Mohammed  had  no  such  orderly  knowl- 
edge of  the  history  as  Stephen  had,  but  he  uses  what 
knowledge  he  had  in  just  the  way  in  which  Stephen 
used  his.  The  climax  of  Stephen's  discourse  is  the 
real  burden  of  Mohammed's:  "Ye  stiff-necked  and 
uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears  !  Ye  do  always  re- 
sist the  Holy  Ghost ;  as  your  fathers  did  so  do  ye. 
Which  of  the  prophets  did  not  your  fathers  persecute 
.  .  .  ye  who  received  the  Law  as  it  was  ordained 
by  angels  and  kept  it  not ! "  Whether  there  was 
some  knowledge  of  the  New  Testament  position  on 
Mohammed's  part  we  cannot  certainly  say.     As  a  case 

*  The  implication  is  that  the  murdered  man  was  raised  to  life  long 
enough  to  testify  against  his  murderer. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  85 

of  history  rej^eatiiig  itself,  the  parallel  is  certainly 
interesting  and  instructive.  The  similarity  extends 
further  than  the  two  discourses.  In  each  case  the 
discourse  showed  that  the  breach  was  at  hand.  The 
Jews  could  not  deny  the  guilt  charged  by  Mohammed 
or  by  Stephen.  It  did  not  follow  that  they  w-ould  be 
converted.     The  divergence  was  already  hopeless." 

Turning  now  to  the  New  Testament,  we  discover 
that  only  two  of  its  histories  are  known  to  Moham- 

*  For  the  sake  of  completeness,  we  may  notice  that  Mohammed 
has  some  other  incidents  not  yet  traced  to  their  original.  He  knows 
of  a  time  when  the  Children  of  Israel  were  commanded  to  enter  a 
city  in  a  certain  way,  but  they  changed  the  word  which  was  com- 
manded. The  Mohammedan  commentators  say  that  out  of  wanton- 
ness they  went  in  in  an  indecent  posture  and  instead  of  saying  hitia 
(forgiveness)  they  said  huhba,  a  grain  of  corn.  For  this  they  were 
punished,  apparently  with  a  pestilence.  This  is  simply  a  conjecture 
on  the  basis  of  the  Koran  text.  I  am  inclined  to  see  in  the  passage 
the  incident  of  the  spies.  The  people  were  commanded  to  enter 
the  land  (the  distinction  between  land  and  city  is  easily  lost)  and  to 
act  righteously  there.  The  spies  substituted  their  evil  report /o?-  the 
command  of  God.  The  people  then,  having  first  refused  to  go,  in- 
sisted upon  going  wilfully  and  were  smitten.  The  resemblances  are 
not  very  marked,  but  the  Biblical  story  might  give  rise  to  what  we 
find  in  the  Koran.     (This  identification  is  not  original  with  me.) 

Again  we  have  the  story  of  the  violators  of  the  Sabbath  who  were 
changed  into  apes.  The  only  Rabbinical  parallel  yet  pointed  out  is 
the  Midrash  that  a  part  of  the  people  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  were 
changed  into  apes,  demons,  and  evil  spirits.  Cf.  Ilirsclifeld^  Jiidisclie 
Elemente  im  Koran  (1878),  p.  65,  who  cites  Talmud,  Sanhedrin 
109  a.  Possibly  the  Arabs  in  Medina  had  turned  this  story  against 
the  Jews  before  the  coming  of  Mohammed.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  point  out  that  the  narrative  of  the  red  heifer  has  mixed  two 
Mosaic  ordinances — the  sacrifice  of  the  red  heifer  in  the  Book  of 
Numbers  (chap.  19)  and  the  Deuteronomic  enactment  (chap.  21)  that 
a  heifer  should  be  slain  to  atone  for  a  murder  the  author  of  which 
is  unknown. 


8(j  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

med.  These  are  the  history  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  the  life  of  Jesus.  John  is  a  prophet,  and,  like  the 
other  prophets,  receives  a  book,  that  is,  a  revelation.* 
Zachariah,  his  father,  is  also  once  mentioned  in  the 
list  of  prophets.  Elsewhere  he  comes  in  incidentally, 
in  connection  with  the  birth  of  his  son.  Zachariah's 
prayer  and  its  answer  are  recounted  somewhat  at 
length,  following  in  the  main  the  narrative  of  Luke. 
John  is  a  prophet  entirely  after  the  pattern  of  those 
already  known  to  us  from  the  Old  Testament.t 

Concerning  Jesus,  the  first  fact  that  we  meet  is 
that  he  is  not  mentioned  in  the  earliest  group  of 
suras.  But  as  very  few  Biblical  characters  are  men- 
tioned in  this  period,  the  fact  may  have  no  special 
significance.  Mohammed's  thought  at  this  time  Avas 
much  upon  the  approaching  judgment.  The  few  his- 
tories to  wdiich  he  alludes  are  those  w^hich  enforce  the 
lesson  of  God's  chastisement,  the  destruction  of 
Sodom,  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh,  the  judgments  on 
Ad  and  Thamud,  the  catastrophe  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Elephant.  These  are  almost  the  only  events  to  which 
he  alludes.  The  life  of  Jesus  presents  no  feature 
which  would  bring  it  into  relation  with  these  events, 
so   that   although  there   are   distinctively  Christian 

t  It  may  be,  as  supposed  by  Sprenger  {Lehen  Muhammed's^  II., 
184),  that  Mohammed  thought  John  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  the 
Sabaeans  (or  Mandaeans).  But  this  is  not  proved  by  the  fact  that  he 
describes  John  as  receiving  a  book.  He  conceives  that  all  the 
prophets  receive  sacred  books  :  "  If  they  accuse  thee  of  falsehood 
[remember  that]  the  apostles  before  thee  were  accused  of  false- 
hood, they  who  brought  signs  and  Psalms  and  an  enliglitening 
Book,"  3"^». 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  87 

features  in  these  early  revelations,  tliej  present  no 
natural  opening  for  a  life  of  Jesus. 

Again :  it  is  noticeable  that  Jesus  is  nearly  always 
mentioned    in    connection   with    Mary.     It    almost 
seems  as  if  Mohammed  were  more  impressed  with 
Mary  than  with  Jesus :  "  [Eemember]  her  who  ke23t 
her  virginity,  and  We  made  her  and  her  son  a  sign 
for  the  worlds"  is  said  in  one  of  the  earliest  j)assagos 
in  which  either  one  is  mentioned."^     In  another,  of 
the   same  period,  Mohammed  gives   an  account  of 
the  Annunciation  and  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  without 
mentioning  him  otherwise  than  as  the  infant,-\  until 
at  the  close,  apparently  as  an  afterthought,  he  adds  : 
"  This  [that  is,  the  infant]  is  Jesus,  son  of  Mary,  the 
Word  of  Truth,  concerning  whom  they  are  in  doubt."  % 
Still  another  reference  of  this  period  is  the  following  : 
"  And  We  made  the  son  of  Mary  and  his  mother  a 
sign,  and  We  gave  them  an  asylum  in  a  lofty  place, 
still  and  well-watered."  §    We  can  hardly  be  mistaken 
in  finding  here  a  reference  to  the  Kevelation  of  John, 
where  the  woman  who  gives  birth  to  the  man  child, 
flees  into  the  wilderness  where  "  she  has  a  place  pre- 
pared of  God  that  they  may  nourish  her."     Perhaps 
this  passage  of  the  Kevelation  was  already  brouglit 
into  connection  with  the  Flight  into  Egypt.     In  any 
case,  up  to  this  point  there  is  no  indication  of  the 
pre-eminence  of  Jesus,  but  rather  a  tendency  to  hold 
up  Mary  as  the  chief  character.     A  further  evidence 

X  This  translation  makes  a  sliglit  change  in  the  pointing.     I  sup- 
pose the  sense  to  be  the  sumo  as  in  'i'*'. 
§  2;F^  cf.  Rev.  12'  ^ 


88  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

of  this  is  the  space  given  to  the  life  of  Mary.  In  re- 
lating this,  Mohammed  draws  from  sources  outside 
the  Canon.  His  own  property  we  can  see  only  in  his 
calling  her  the  daughter  of  Imran  and  the  sister  of 
Aaron  "^ — doubtless  a  confusion  of  Mary  with  Miriam, 
the  names  being  identical  in  Arabic. 

Concerning  her,  we  hear  that  she  was  dedicated  by 
her  parents  to  the  service  of  God,  and  thus  came  into 
the  care  of  Zacharias,  to  whom  she  was  assigned  by 
the  sacred  lot.f  She  resides  in  the  Temple,  where 
she  is  fed  by  the  angels.  She  is  visited  by  the  angel, 
who  announces  that  she  is  to  become  the  mother  of 
Jesus.  A  spring  of  water  breaks  forth  at  her  feet 
and  a  palm-tree  supplies  her  with  dates.  The  infant 
Jesus  speaks  to  vindicate  his  mother.  J  The  most 
of  these  details  can  be  identified  in  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels  which  have  come  down  to  us.  According 
to  these,  Mary  was  dedicated  to  God  by  her  parents 
when  three  years  old  and  taken  to  live  in  the  Temple. 
There  she  was  fed  by  the  angels.  When  fourteen 
years  old  she  was  assigned  to  Joseph,  from  whose  rod 
there  came  forth  a  dove.  In  her  need,  a  palm  bends 
down  to  supply  her  with  dates  and  a  spring  flows  at 
her  feet.§     We  do  not  find  in  any  of  these  sources 

*  1929. 

f  "  Thou  wast  not  among  them  when  they  threw  their  reeds  to  see 
which  of  them  should  care  for  Mary,  nor  wert  thou  with  them  when 
they  disputed,"  S'^^. 

X  The  main  references  are  3=^"",  19'" 34. 

§  These  incidents  are  narrated  in  the  various  Apocryphal  Gospels, 
of.  the  volume  in  tlie  Antenicene  Christian  Library  containing 
translations  of  these  by  Walker,  American  edition  of  the  Antenicene 
Fathers^  Vol.  VIII.  Some  of  them  are  also  found  in  the  Booh  of 
ike  Beei  translated  by  Budge. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  89 

that  Jesus  speaks  immediately  after  liis  birth,  but  a 
similar  incident  is  narrated  in  a  Syriac  Christian 
source,*  by  which  (indirectly)  Mohammed  was  pos- 
sibly influenced. 

The  prominence  of  extra  canonical  sources  seen  in 
the  life  of  Mary  is  less  marked  in  the  life  of  Jesus. 
When  we  are  told,  however,  that  he  made  birds  of 
clay  and  that  when  he  blew  upon  them  they  became 
alive,  we  remember  the  similar  account  in  the  Apoc- 
ryphal Gospels.  Mohammed  has  also  an  extended 
account  of  Jesus  bringing  a  table  with  food  from 
heaven  for  his  disciples.  On  the  face  of  it,  this  seems 
to  be  derived  from  the  institution  of  the  Supper,  with 
reminiscences  of  Peter's  vision  at  Joppa.  We  hear 
in  general  of  Jesus's  miracles,  that  he  healed  a  man 
blind  from  his  birth,  and  a  leper,  and  that  he  raised 
a  dead  man  to  life.  Beyond  this,  Jesus  is  affirmed  to 
be  a  prophet,  the  Word  of  God  and  His  Spirit,  and 
one  who  received  a  Book  of  revelations. 

Mohammed  was  compelled  to  define  his  position  in 
regard  to  Jesus,  first  by  the  assertions  of  the  Meccans 
and  then  by  the  claims  of  the  Jews.  We  know  of  the 
dilemma  proposed  by  the  Meccans  from  the  following 
passage :  f 

*•  And  when  the  son  of  Mary  is  proposed  as  a  likeness,  then 
thy  people  turn  their  backs  to  him  and  say  :  Are  our  gods 
better,  or  is  he  ?  They  say  this  only  out  of  contention,  and 
verily  they  are  a  contentious  people.  In  truth  he  was  only 
a  servant  on  whom  YVe  bestowed  Our  grace,  and  "We  made 
him  an  example  to  the   Children  of   Israel.     (If  We  had 

*  The  Life  of  Ephraem  contained  in  Uhlemann's  Syrische  Chres- 
iomafhie  gives  a  similar  incident. 


90  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

willed,  We  would  have  produced  from  you  angels  to  succeed 
you  in  the  earth. )  And  he  is  a  sign  of  the  [approach  of  the] 
Hour.*  Therefore  do  not  dispute  concerning  this  but  fol- 
low—this is  the  straight  path — and  let  not  Satan  turn  you 
away  ;  he  is  your  declared  enemy.  When  Jesus  brought 
signs  and  wonders  he  said  :  I  bring  you  true  wisdom,  and 
I  will  make  plain  to  you  a  part  of  that  concerning  which 
you  dispute  ;  fear  God  and  obey.  God  is  my  Lord  and  your 
Lord,  therefore  serve  Him— this  is  the  straight  path.  But 
the  sects  disputed  among  themselves.  Woe  to  those  who 
do  evil  ;  for  them  is  the  punishment  of  a  day  of  torture." 

The  most  natural  interpretation  of  this  passage  is 
the  one  suggested  by  the  commentators.  Mohammed 
had  threatened  that  the  idolators  should  be  cast  into 
hell  and  with  them  their  false  gods.  The  Meccaus 
knew  enough  of  Christianity  to  say  that  Jesus  also 
was  an  object  of  worship.  They  therefore  held  up 
the  dilemma — either  all  objects  of  worship  besides 
Allah  were  not  cast  into  hell,  or  else  Jesus,  whom 
Mohammed  held  up  as  an  example,  must  go  witli 
them.  In  either  case  Mohammed  had  spoken  falsel3^ 
This  is  the  meaning  of  their  question  whether  Jesus 
was  better  than  their  gods. 

The  reply  is,  in  effect,  that  Jesus  was  only  a  man 
like  the  other  prophets,  and  that  he  himself  called 
men  to  the  worship  of  the  one  God.  As  to  his 
alleged  divinity,  not  all  even  of  the  Christians  are 
agreed  about  it,  and  in  the  difference  of  opinion  it  is 
best  to  adhere  to  that  of  which  we  are  fully  con- 
vinced, namely  :  that  there  is  but  one  God,  and  that 
Jesus  was  an  Apostle  like  Abraham  and  Moses,  but 
not  worthy  of  higher  honor  than  they. 

•  Jesus's  second  coming  will  precede  the  judgment. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  91 

The  temptation  at  Medina  was  of  another  sort. 
There  Mohammed  was  trying  to  win  the  Jews,  to 
whom  Jesus  w^as  an  abomination.  It  would  have 
been  one  obstacle  removed  if  he  could  have  taken  Je- 
sus out  of  the  company  of  Abraham  and  Moses.  But 
Mohammed  was  fii'm  in  the  position  once  taken. 
■\Yhile  still  denying  the  divinity  of  Jesus,  he  reaffirmed 
his  Apostleship.  The  following  are  all  from  Medinan 
suras : 

•'And  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary,  said  to  his  people  :  O, 
Children  of  Israel !  I  am  the  Apostle  of  God  to  you,  testi- 
fying to  the  truth  of  what  you  have  already  received  in  the 
Tora,  and  bringing  you  tidings  of  an  Apostle  to  come  after 
me  whose  name  is  Ahmed.  But  when  he  showed  them 
miracles  they  said  :  This  is  evident  magic."  * 

"Then  [after  Noah  and  Abraham]  We  sent  Jesus  the  son 
of  Mary,  and  We  gave  him  the  Gospel,  and  We  placed  in 
the  hearts  of  those  who  followed  him,  tenderness  and  com- 
passion. ' '  t 

'•[The  Day  when  God  assembles  the  Apostles]  He  will 
say:  O,  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary !  Remember  My  grace  bestowed 
upon  thee  and  thy  Mother,  when  I  strengthened  thee  with 
the  Spirit  of  Holiness,  that  thou  shouldst  speaJi  to  men 
when  in  the  cradle  and  when  full  grown.  And  I  taught 
thee  the  Book  and  the  Wisdom  and  the  Tora  and  the  Gos- 
pel, "t 

This  passage  is  followed  by  an  account  of  the  mir- 
acles ;  other  passages  of  this  period  also  affirm  that 
Jesus  performed  miracles,  that  he  received  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  that  he  was  an  Apostle  sent  with  a  Book. 

Mohammed  adhered  therefore  to  the  position  once 
taken.     But  with  the  same  persistency  he  refused  to 

♦  Cl«.  toT-"'.  t^'°'- 


92  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

go  further  and  acknowledge  that  Jesus  was  more  than 
a  prophet.  The  knowledge  that  the  Christians  af- 
firmed a  Trinity  in  the  Godhead  found  no  response 
in  his  heart  except  one  of  denial.  We  can  scarcely 
wonder  at  this.  The  knowledge  seems  not  to  have 
come  to  him  until  his  system  was  settled  in  his  own 
mind.  His  mind  was  unschooled  in  theological  defi- 
nition and  could  apprehend  the  doctrine  only  as 
Tritheism,  and  therefore  as  a  modification  of  the 
polytheism  which  he  was  opposing.  Some  have  in- 
deed found  a  Trinitarian  tendency  in  his  adoption  of 
the  name  Rahman  for  God.  But  this  is  unlikely,  for 
the  vigor  with  which  he  rejected  the  Christian  doc- 
trine is  evident.  The  following  passages  cannot 
leave  any  doubt  in  our  minds : 

"The  Jews  say  :  Ezra  is  the  son  of  God  ;  and  the  Chris- 
tians say :  The  Messiah,  Son  of  Mary,  is  the  son  of  God. 
This  word  of  theirs  in  their  mouths  is  like  the  word  of 
those  who  were  unbeheving  in  okl  time.  God  has  declared 
Avar  against  them.     Why  should  they  lie  ?  "  * 

''They  are  unbelievers  who  say  that  the  Messiah,  the 
son  of  Mary,  is  God.  The  Messiah  said  [on  the  contrary]  : 
O,  Children  of  Israel,  serve  God,  my  Lord  and  your  Lord  ; 
whoever  associates  anything  with  God  [as  an  object  of 
worship],  God  has  shut  Paradise  against  him,  and  his 
abode  is  the  Fire,  and  the  evildoers  have  no  helper.  They 
are  unbelievers  who  say  :  God  is  one  of  three.  There  is  no 
God  but  One,  and  if  they  do  not  cease  saying  this  a  pain- 
ful punishment  shall  overtake  the  unbelievers.  .  .  . 
The  Messiah,  Son  of  Mary,  was  only  an  Apostle  who  was 
preceded  by  other  Apostles.  His  mother  also  was  truthful 
[and  would  not  permit  such  an  assertion].  They  were  both 
accustomed  to  eat  [mortal]  food."  f 

*  O'".  t  5^V9. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  93 

*  *  O,  ye  who  possess  the  Scriptures  !  Be  not  extravagant 
in  your  religion,  and  do  not  say  concerning  God  anything 
but  the  trutli.  Tlie  Messiah,  Jesas,  the  son  of  Mary,  was 
the  Apostle  of  God  and  His  Word  which  He  communicated 
to  Mary,  and  a  spirit  from  Him.  Believe  therefore  in  God 
and  His  Apostles  and  do  not  say  :  Three  !  Cease  doing  it, 
that  will  be  better  for  you.  One  God  alone  is  God.  Far 
be  it  from  Him  that  He  should  have  a  son  !  To  Him  be- 
longs what  is  in  heaven  and  what  is  on  earth — and  God 
suffices  us  as  an  administrator.  The  Messiah,  Son  of  Mary, 
did  not  disdain  to  be  a  servant  to  God,  nor  do  the  angels 
who  draw  near  to  him. ' '  * 

These  passages,  with  others,  show  the  sharp  recoil 
in  the  Prophet's  mind  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Trin- 
it}-.  But  we  should  remember  that  the  Trinity,  as  he 
supposed  the  Christians  to  teach  it,  was  made  up  of 
Father,  Son,  and  Mary.  Thus  only  can  we  interpret 
his  constant  association  of  Mary  and  Jesus,  and  his 
very  sparing  mention  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Among 
the  Christian  sects  of  the  East,  Mary  was  early  lifted 
to  the  throne  of  heaven.  "  Her  cultus  is  [still] 
equally  in  vogue  among  orthodox  and  heretics."  I  It 
was  in  Arabia  that  the  CoUyridians  invested  her  with 
the  name  and  honors  of  a  goddess.J  This  reflection 
throws  light  upon  a  passage  of  the  Koran  where  God 
is  represented  as  saying  to  Jesus  at  the  Last  Day : 
"  O,  Jesus,  Son  of  Mary  !  didst  thou  say  to  men  :  take 
me  and  my  mother  as  gods  besides  Allah  ?  He  will 
reply  :  Far  be  it !     It  does  not  belong  to  me  to  say 

*  4.169 

t  Kattenbusch,  Lehrhuch  der  Vergleichende  Confessions-Kunde 
(1892),  I.,  p.  404. 

X  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall.,  Chapter  L.  Cf .  Sale,  Preliminary 
Discourse,  i;  II. 


94  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

what  is  not  true.  Thou  knowest  wliether  I  have  said 
it.  Thou  knowest  what  is  in  my  soul."  *  This  pas- 
sage seems  to  show  conclusively  that  Mohammed  con- 
ceived of  the  Christian  Trinity  as  made  up  of  Allah, 
Mary,  and  Jesus. 

Now  such  a  Trinity  would  seem  the  more  distinctly 
heathen  to  him,  because  the  heathen  also  related  their 
gods  in  families.  The  Meccans  had  a  considerable 
pantheon.  The  question  of  the  relationship  existing 
between  its  members  had  probably  already  occurred 
to  them.  If  not,  it  was  forced  upon  them  by  Moham- 
med's claim  that  two  Gods  could  not  coexist  without 
war.  The  natural  theory,  as  we  see  in  other  polythe- 
istic religions,  is  that  the  gods  make  a  family.  Not 
only  was  this  the  theory  of  the  Meccans,  it  was  a  point 
at  which  Mohammed  at  one  time  made  concessions  to 
them,  though  he  afterward  retracted.  This  experi- 
ence made  him  more  than  ever  determined  to  main- 
tain the  absolute  unity  of  God.  A  number  of  passages 
which  deny  that  God  has  children  are  directed  prima- 
rily against  the  Meccan  doctrine.  It  is  probably  so 
with  the  early  profession  of  faith  :  "  God  is  One  ;  the 
self-existent  God  ;  He  begets  not  and  is  not  begotten ; 
and  nothing  is  to  be  likened  to  Him."  And  again : 
"  He  it  is  to  whom  belongs  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and 
of  earth,  and  He  has  not  taken  any  as  son,  nor  has  He 
an  associate  in  the  kingdom.  He  created  all  things, 
and  determined  them  by  His  decree  ;  yet  they  take 
as  gods  besides  Him  things  which  do  not  create,  but 
are  themselves  created."  f  And  once  more  :  "  They 
say  :  The  Compassionate  has  a  son.     Far  be  it  from 

♦5'i«.  tSura  112,  ancl25^'^. 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  95 

Him.  Na}^  these  are  honored  servants.  They  do 
not  anticipate  Him  in  speaking,  and  they  perform 
His  commands.  He  knows  what  is  before  and  what 
is  behind  them,  and  they  can  intercede  only  so  far 
as  He  gives  permission,  and  they  tremble  with  fear  of 
Him.  Should  one  of  them  say  :  I  am  a  God  besides 
Him — such  an  one  We  Avill  reward  with  Gehenna. 
Thus  we  reward  the  evildoers."  *  It  is  abundantly 
evident  that  this  is  directed  against  the  gods  of  the 
Meccans.  But  having  taken  this  position  in  regard 
to  the  daughters  of  God,  as  they  called  their  goddesses, 
no  way  was  open  to  him  to  acknowledge  the  sonsliip 
of  Christ.  In  truth,  he  shows  no  desire  to  recognize 
it,  and  in  one  place  goes  so  far  as  to  say  that,  at  the 
affirmation  that  God  has  a  son,  the  heavens  are  ready 
to  be  rent  in  twain,  the  earth  to  cleave  asunder,  and 
the  mountains  to  fall  into  ruin.f 

One  thing  more  must  be  noticed  in  this  connection. 
In  regard  to  the  death  of  Jesus,  Mohammed  took 
w^hat  is  known  as  the  Doketic  position.  His  lan- 
guage is  this :  '*  They  [that  is,  the  Jews]  say :  We 
slew  the  Messiah,  Jesus,  the  son  of  Mary,  the  Apos- 
tle of  God.J  But  they  did  not  slay  him,  and  they 
did  not  crucify  him,  but  a  likeness  was  presented  to 
them,  and  they  who  disputed  concerning  him  were  in 
doubt — they  had  no  certain  knowledge,  but  followed 
an  opinion.  They  did  not  kill  him  in  reality  ;  God 
raised  him  to  Himself.     God  is  almighty  and  wise. 

X  Of  course  the  Jews  would  not  call  him  either  the  Messiah  or 
the  Apostle  of  God.  Mohammed  gives  the  sense  of  their  claim  as 
it  lay  in  his  mind. 


96  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

There  are  none  of  tlie  people  of  tlie  Scriptures  who 
will  not  believe  on  him  before  their  death,  and  in  the 
day  of  resurrection  he  will  be  a  witness  against 
them."  "^  It  is  clear  from  this  language  that  the  doc- 
trine adopted  by  Mohammed  came  from  those  Gnostic 
sects  which  denied  that  Jesus  was  really  crucified, 
holding  that  Judas  was  substituted  for  him,  and  nailed 
to  the  cross,  while  Jesus  ascended  directly  to  heaven.f 
The  variations  of  this  view  held  by  the  different  sects 
do  not  here  concern  us.  What  interests  us  is  the 
motive  of  Mohammed  in  adopting  it,  as  he  did,  at  a 
comparatively  late  date.  In  earlier  chapters  he  al- 
ludes to  the  death  of  Jesus  in  the  same  terms  which 
he  employs  in  speaking  of  the  other  prophets.  % 

It  is  perhaps  significant  that  Mohammed  so  often 
reproaches  the  people  of  the  Scriptures  with  their 
differences  and  disputes.  He  had  primarily  in  mind, 
we  may  suppose,  the  disputes  between  Jews  and 
Christians.  But  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  also  knew 
of  the  differences  between  the  Christian  sects.  If  so 
we  may  conclude  that  he  had  become  aware  of  the 
different  views  of  the  death  of  Jesus,  and  that  he  was 
compelled  to  choose  between  them.  The  motive  in 
adopting  the  one  on  which  he  finally  settled  was  fur- 
nished by  the  Jews  at  Medina.  The  passage  before 
us  shows  that  the  Jews  taunted  him  with  the  claim 
that  they  had  put  to  death  one  of  the  Apostles  whom 
he  claimed  as  a  predecessor. §     Now,  in  his  general 

*  41^6  f.  I  cf.  Herzog,  P.R.E.^  IX.,  p.  247.  %  W\ 

§  An  interesting  parallel  is  found  in  the  language  used  by  the 
Jewish  King  Dhu  Nowas  to  the  Christian  inhabitants  of  Nagran : 
''  The  Greeks  know  that  our  fathers,  who  were  priests  and  Pharisees 


THE  KORAN  NARRATIVES  97 

scheme,  Moliammed  found  no  room  for  the  early  death 
of  a  prophet.  In  the  cases  ah'eadj  discussed,  the 
prophet  was  uniformly  delivered,  while  the  unbelievers 
were  destroyed.  The  life  of  Jesus  as  it  is  given  in 
the  Gospels  does  not  conform  to  this  scheme.  The 
theory  that  Jesus  offered  himself  for  His  people  did 
not  commend  itself  to  him  if  he  ever  heard  of  it,  nor 
would  it  really  answer  the  argument  of  the  Jews. 
The  relief  sought  was  found  in  the  Doketic  doctrine, 
w^hich  was  therefore  adopted.  In  this  way  the  life  of 
Jesus  was  brought  into  harmony  with  Mohammed's 
general  scheme  of  history  as  already  exemphfied  in 
the  account  of  the  earlier  prophets. 

Our  study  of  this  evening  has  shown  us  the  method 
and  the  aim  of  one  religious  leader.  It  shows  him 
willing  to  take  historical  material  wherever  he  could 
find  it,  to  serve  the  gTeat  end  he  had  at  heart.  It 
shows  him  moulding  the  material  according  to  his  own 
experiences,  and  making  it  serve  the  edification  of 
his  own  followers.  In  all  this  I  conceive  that  we  are 
discovering  something  like  a  law  of  spiritual  progress. 

In  the  next  lecture  we  shall  approach  the  more 
distinctly  theological  part  of  our  subject,  in  looking 
at  Mohammed's  doctrine  of  God. 

and  lawyers  in  Jerusalem,  crucified  a  man  in  Jerusalem  ;  and  they 
smote  and  mocked  and  killed  him  because  they  saw  and  were  con- 
vinced that  he  was  not  God.  Why  will  you  cherish  your  delusion 
concerning  this  man  ?  "  Tlie  siege  of  Nagran  was  in  the  century 
before  Mohammed's  call,  and  while  the  (Ethiopic)  account  from 
which  this  language  is  quoted  is  comparatively  late,  we  have  no 
reason  to  suspect  Moslem  influence.  Cf.  Fell,  Die  Chrisfenrer- 
folgungeti  in  S'ddarahicn^  Z.D.M.G.,  XXXV.,  p.  5G. 


LECTUEE  IV. 

THE  DOCTRINE   OF   GOD 

Mohammed,  like  other  reformers,  raised  his  voice 
in  conscious  opposition  to  the  existing  system.  In 
one  of  his  first  revelations  he  is  bidden  to  say  :  "  O, 
you  that  disbelieve  ;  I  will  not  serve  what  you  serve, 
nor  do  you  serve  what  I  serve.  .  .  .  You  have 
your  religion  and  I  have  mine."  ^'*  The  point  at 
which  he  was  consciously  and  most  distinctly  in  op- 
position to  his  contemporaries  was  the  unity  of  God. 
There  is  no  God  hut  Allah,  was,  and  continues  to  be, 
the  watchword  of  Islam.  The  infidels  are  most  often 
described  as  those  who  associate  other  beings  with 
Allah  as  objects  of  worship.  In  the  sura  just  quoted 
Mohammed  seems,  indeed,  to  say  that  the  Meccans 
did  not  worship  the  same  God  which  he  worshipped. 
But  it  is  plain  from  other  passages  that  he  did  not 
deny  that  Allah  was  one  of  the  deities  in  their  pan- 
theon. He  meant  that  their  worship  was  so  vitiated 
by  its  polytheistic  character  that  it  was  no  true  wor- 
ship. Allah,  like  Yahweh,  tolerates  no  partners. 
"  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  in  My  presence  " 
was  with  him,  as  with  the  Hebrews,  the  first  com- 
mandment, and  he  appreciated  it  to  the  fall.  The 
declaration  of  God's  unity  :  "  God  is  One  ;  the  Self- / 

*  Sura  109. 
98 


TUE  DOCTRINE  OB'  GOD  99 

existent  God ;  He  begets  not  and  is  not  begotten  ; 
and  there  is  none  like  to  Him,"  may  be  put  beside 
the  declaration  of  Moses :  "  Hear,  O  Israel,  Yahweh 
our  God,  Yahweh  is  One  ;  and  thou  shalt  love  Yahweh 
thy  God  with  all  thy  mind  and  with  all  thy  soul  and 
with  all  thy  strength."  The  oneness  of  God  is  a 
reason  for  the  exclusive  nature  of  the  worship  paid 
to  Him.  The  Biblical  statement  that  Yahweh  is  a 
jealous  God  is  simply  the  affirmation  of  the  truth 
known  to  Mohammed,  that  Allah  admits  no  partners. 
With  him,  as  with  the  Hebrew  law-giver,  there  was  a 
conviction  of  the  infinite  worthiness  of  the  one  God, 
a  worthiness  which  admits  none  to  comparison  with 
Him. 

Mohammed  was  not  the  first  of  the  Arabs  to  recog- 
nize this  truth.  There  is  a  very  strong  current  of 
tradition  to  the  effect  that  in  this  case  also  there 
were  Reformers  before  the  Reformation.  Reflecting 
men  had  become  dissatisfied  with  the  popular  re- 
ligion. Some  of  them  had  sought  refuge  in  Judaism 
or  Christianity.  Others  were  not  drawn  to  these 
religions,  but  adopted  monotheism  and  abandoned 
the  worship  of  idols.  An  example  is  Zaid  Ibn  Amr, 
of  whom  Mohammed's  earliest  biographer  says  :  "  He 
adopted  neither  Christianity  nor  Judaism,  but  he  gave 
up  the  religion  of  his  people  ;  he  abandoned  the  idols, 
kept  himself  from  what  was  strangled,  from  blood, 
from  what  was  offered  to  idols  and  from  infanticide. 
He  professed  to  worship  the  Lord  of  Abraham."'^" 
This  Zaid  was  known  to  Mohammed,  who,  on  hearing 

*  Weil,  Das  Lehen  Mohammed's  nach  Mohammed  Ibn  Ishak  bear- 
heitet  von  Ibn  Ilischam  (1864),  I  ,  p.  108. 


100  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

of  his  death,  said  :  In  the  Resurrection  he  will  form 
a  communion  by  himself.^  Several  such  lianifs  as 
they  are  called — the  same  word  is  applied  to  Abraham 
as  we  saw — are  mentioned  in  the  time  of  Mohammed. 
Some  of  them  joined  him,  some  rejected  him.  They 
are  an  indication  that  the  more  earnest  spirits  were 
already  breaking  away  from  heathenism. 

The  difference  between  them  and  Mohammed  is 
that  they  were  content  to  work  out  their  ow^n  salva- 
tion and  let  other  jDcople  alone — to  go  to  heaven  their 
way,  and  let  the  others  go  to  the  other  place  their 
way,  as  a  modern  writer  describes  toleration — where- 
as Mohammed  felt  the  impulse  to  preach  against  idol- 
atry. This  it  was  which  roused  the  Meccans.  Their 
religion  was  a  part  of  the  standing  order,  and  to 
change  it  meant  revolution.  Mecca  owed  its  impor- 
tance and  its  wealth  to  the  fact  that  it  was  an  empo- 
rium. Its  trade  was  secured  by  its  being  an  asylum 
in  which  tribes  otherwise  hostile  could  meet  in  safety. 
The  visible  pledge  of  asylum  was  the  presence  of  the 
gods  of  all  the  tribes  at  the  Meccan  sanctuary.  To 
demand  that  these  gods  should  be  destro^^ed  and 
Allah  alone  worshipped,  was  to  demand  the  overthrow 
of  their  social  and  political  institutions,  and,  as  they 
regarded  it,  such  a  movement  would  be  followed  by 
financial  ruin.  Their  first  theory  was  that  the  demand 
could  come  only  from  a  man  possessed  by  a  devil. 
But  as  Mohammed  showed  much  method  in  his  mad- 
ness, they  took  active  measures  against  him,  so  that 
at  last  he  found  safety  only  in  flight. 

Mere  negations,  however,  do  not   triumph.     The 

*  Sprcnger,  Lehen  Mukammed's^  I  ,  p.  83. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  OOD  101 

creed  of  Islam  is  indeed  there  is  no  God  hut  Allah. 
But  behind  this  creed,  which  is  negative  in  form,  there 
lies  a  positive  conception  of  the  character  of  Allah — 
a  conception  which  was  clearly  set  forth  by  Moham- 
med, which  attracted  his  followers,  and  which  is  still 
the  real  belief  of  all  reflecting  Moslems.  Even  in  the 
earliest  suras,  Allah  is  a  definite  and  active  person- 
ality. Mohammed  would  heartily  have  accepted  the 
statement  of  the  Westminster  Shorter  Catechism  : 
"  There  is  but  one  only,  the  living  and  true  God.'' 
Note  the  following  Koran  passages  : 

**He  is  Gfod,  besides  whom  there  is  no  God.  He  is  the 
Knower  of  the  secret  and  of  the  manifest.  He  is  the  Merci- 
ful, the  Compassionate.  He  is  the  King,  the  All-Holy,  the 
Complete,  the  Protector,  the  Guardian,  the  Almighty,  the 
Ruler,  the  Glorious.  Far  from  Him  be  that  which  they 
associate  with  Him.  He  is  God,  the  Creator,  the  Maker, 
the  Fashioner — all  excellent  names  are  His,  AVhatever  is  in 
heaven  and  on  earth  praises  Him.  He  is  the  Almighty,  the 
All-wise. ' '  * 

"Say  to  them  :  To  whom  belongs  the  earth  and  all  that 
is  in  it— do  you  know  ?  They  will  say  :  It  belongs  to  Allah. 
Answer  them  :  Will  you  not  then  praise  Him?  Who  is  the 
Lord  of  the  seven  heavens,  and  the  spacious  canopy  ?  They 
will  say  :  Allah.  Answer  them  :  Will  you  not  then  fear 
Him  ?  In  whose  hand  is  the  rule  of  the  universe,  who  pro- 
tects, but  against  whom  no  one  protects — do  you  know  ? 
They  will  say  :  It  is  Allah.  Answer  them  :  Then  why  will 
you  be  bewitched  [by  idolatry]  ?  Verily,  we  have  sent  them 
the  truth,  but  they  are  liars. ' '  f 

Biblical  parallels  to  several  of  these  predicates 
readily   suggest  themselves.     But  in  order  to  get  a 

*  5922.24.  f  238'5-'»'''. 


102  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

clearer  view  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Koran,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  adopt  some  sort  of  arrangement  under 
which  we  can  group  together  the  great  variety  of 
dicta  prohaiitia.     Let  us  note,  then  : 

1.  The  God  of  Mohammed  is  Allah,  the  God  al- 
ready known  by  name  to  the  Arabs.  In  the  passage 
just  quoted,  Mohammed  conducts  a  dialogue  with  his 
adversaries  in  which  they  show  themselves  no  stran- 
gers to  Allah.  It  would  be  precarious  to  build  on 
such  a  passage  a  theory  that  Allah  was  already  rec- 
ognized as  the  supreme  God  of  the  pantheon.  But  it 
at  least  shows  that  the  heathen  knew  Him  by  name, 
and  that  they  could  not  seriously  object  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Prophet  as  new  and  unheard  of.  Proba- 
bly they  had  never  reflected  on  the  subjects  on  which 
he  questioned  them.  In  early  religions  the  question 
of  creation,  for  example,  is  not  raised ;  the  world  is 
taken  as  it  is,  and  no  theory  of  its  origin  is  formu- 
lated. When  the  question  is  raised,  the  Meccans  are 
more  likely  to  answer  Allah  than  anything  else, 
because  Allah  is  the  most  general  name  for  God. 
The  word  means  simply  the  divinity,  and  could  be  ap- 
plied to  any  God.  Hobal  was  Allah  at  Mecca,  and 
another  God  was  Allah  at  Taif.  Two  Arabs  might 
swear  by  Allah,  and  each  have  his  own  divinity  in 
mind,  just  as  Abraham  and  Abimelech  might  both 
swear  by  Elohim,  though  the  Elohim  of  Abraham 
was  Yahweh  and  the  Elohim  of  Abimelech  was  an- 
other. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  assume,  therefore,  as  some 
have  done,  that  there  was  already  a  fnlly  developed 
doctrine  of   A/Iah   Taala — God  Most  High— among 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  103 

the  Arabs  before  Mohammed/'  The  case  was  not 
different  from  that  of  the  Hebrews.  When  Yahweh 
announced  His  proper  name,  he  was  careful  to  iden- 
tify Himself  with  the  Elohim  ah-eady  known  to  the 
people  and  to  their  fathers.  The  only  difference  is 
that  Mohammed  contented  himself  (at  least  finally) 
with  the  general  name,  while  the  Hebrew  kept  both 
names,  though  insisting  that  Yahweh  is  the  only 
Elohim. 

As  a  visible  and  substantial  evidence  that  Allah 
was  not  an  unknown  God,  Mohammed  retained  the 
ancient  sanctuary  of  the  Kaaba.  So  long  as  he  was 
at  Mecca  he  seems  to  have  had  no  hesitation  in  this. 
When  he  went  to  Medina  he  tried  to  make  a  change. 
But  he  was  obliged  to  return,  after  no  long  time,  to 
his  original  position.  As  evidence  that  it  was  his 
original  position,  we  have  Sura  106,  apparently  an 
early  one,  in  which  he  exhorts  the  Koreish  to  invoke 
tJie  Lord  of  this  Jiouse.  In  other  religions  we  see  the 
tendency  to  identify  the  newly  revealed  God  with 
one  already  known.  Even  the  Apostle  Paul  inti- 
mates that  the  God  whom  he  preaches  at  Athens  is 
one  already  worshipped  there. 

The  proposition  that  Allah  is  the  only  God  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  the  other  so-called  gods 
have  absolutely  no  existence.  This  was  too  radical  a 
step  to  take  all  at  once.  Mohammed  conceded  the 
existence  of  spirits  or  demons  who  had  seduced  men 
to  their  worship.  The  Ai-abic  word  for  these  beings  is 
Jinn  (collective),  and  as  we  have  no  exact  equivalent 
it  is  better  to  retain  this  word  in  translation  :  "  But 

*  Dozy,  Essai  sur  V Hisioire  de  V Tslamisme  (1879),  p.  5. 


104  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

they  give  associates  to  God,  tlie  Jinu,  whom  He  cre- 
ated ;  and  out  of  ignorance  they  falsely  attribute  to 
Him  sons  and  daughters.  Far  be  this  from  Him! 
He  is  exalted  above  what  they  ascribe  to  Him."  '^  In 
another  passage,  the  false  gods  are  questioned  by 
Allah  at  the  Judgment,  and  avow  that  they  have 
misled  their  woi-shippers ;  and  again  we  are  told  that 
the  idolaters  worship  only  Satan  the  rebellious. f  It 
is  not  mere  dramatic  imagery  intended  to  emphasize 
the  evil  of  polytheism  that  is  presented  in  these  pas- 
sages. Mohammed  admitted  that  the  false  gods  have 
a  real  existence.  V/hat  he  denied  was  not  their 
reality  but  their  divinity — their  power  to  help  or 
harm. 

We  find  in  this  a  distinct  parallel  to  both  Old  Tes- 
A  tament  and  New.    It  will  suffice  to  quote  Leviticus  17' : 
"  They  shall  no  longer  sacrifice  their  sacrifices  to  the 
satyrs  {se'irim,  the  desert  demons)  after  which  they 
have    [heretofore]  gone   astray."      In  Deuteronomy 
also  we  read  that  they  sacrificed  to  demons  {sliedim) 
instead  of  God.  J    For  the  New  Testament,  we  have 
Paul's  assertions  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles 
sacrifice  they  sacrifice  to  demons  and  not  to  God."  § 
r    The  belief  in  spirits  which  infest  the  desert  is  very 
\   old  among  the  Semites — indeed  beliefs  of  this  kind 
are  found  among  all  nations.     It  was  therefore  nat- 
ural  that   Mohammed  should  identify  these  beings 

*  gioo^ 

t  28S2f  and  4i". 

X  With  Lev.  IV  cf.  2  Chron.  ll'^.  With  Dent.  32''  cf.  Ps.  106-''. 
Gunkel  combines  with  these  Fs.  40^^  where  the  idols  are  called 
rehahim  :  "evil  beings,  enemies  to  man." 

§  I.  Cor.  10-". 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  105 

with  tlie  divinities  worshipped  by  the  lieathen  Arabs. 
It  is  not  unlikely,  however,  that  he  was  also  influenced 
remotely  by  the  Biblical  statements  just  quoted. 

2.  The  God  of  Mohammed  is  also  the  God  of  Jews 
and  Christians.  This  also  is  indicated  by  the  name 
(Al]ah,  Al-ilah),  which  is  found  in  Hebrew  (Eloah, 
Elohim)  and  in  the  Christian  Syriac.  The  identity  is 
not  only  clear  from  the  name  itself,  but  from  direct 
assertions  of  the  Koran :  "  Debate  with  those  who 
have  the  Scriptures  only  in  the  most  honorable  man- 
ner .  .  .  and  say :  We  believe  in  what  is  re- 
vealed to  us  and  in  what  is  revealed  to  you ;  your 
God  and  our  God  are  one  God,  and  we  are  resigned 
to  Him."  *  The  doctrine  of  Mohammed  is  like  the 
doctrine  of  Christianity  in  its  universalism.  Allah  is 
not  the  God  of  a  particular  race  only ;  He  is  God  of 
the  whole  earth.  This  was  also  the  doctrine  of  the 
Old  Testament  in  its  latest  stages.  The  religious 
impulse  seems  to  find  in  the  oneness  of  God  the 
unifying  principle  of  human  history.  Hence  comes 
the  necessity  of  finding  our  God  in  the  God  of  the 
fathers.  The  j)arallel  between  Abraham,  Moses,  and 
Jesus,  which  Mohammed  extended  to  himself  w^as 
another  expression  of  the  continuity  of  the  one  God — 
a  God  who  has  never  left  Himself  without  witness. 
By  some  one  of  His  prophets  He  has  repeatedly 
called  men  to  repentance  and  obedience.  That  in 
this  respect  Mohammed  occupies  ground  which  is 
more  distinctly  Christian  than  Jewish,  needs  no  dem- 
onstration. 

3.  This  God    enters    into  personal    relation  with 

♦29'\ 


a> 


106  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

those  who  believe  on  Him.  He  Himself  is  a  person 
— there  is  no  pantheism  in  the  Koran.  The  Gnostic 
sects  which  swarmed  in  the  farther  East  had  not 
penetrated  Arabia  with  their  emanistic  speculations. 
At  least  we  find  no  trace  of  their  influence  in  the 
theology  of  Mohammed.  God  and  the  universe  ap- 
pear to  him  as  sharply  distinguished  as  man  and  the 
world.  Not  even  in  polemic  does  he  betray  any  sus- 
picion of  pantheism.  The  whole  impression  made 
by  what  he  says,  and  by  wdiat  he  does  not  say,  is  to 
the  effect  that  he  could  not  even  conceive  of  a  God 
without  personality. 

To  a  certain  extent,  his  view  was  anthropomorphic. 
If  we  mean  by  anthropomorphism  every  ascription 
of  thought  or  feeling  to  God,  then  all  religions  except 
Buddhism  are  infected  with  anthropomorphism.  Is- 
lam, or  at  least  the  Koran,  is  not  extreme  in  attribut- 
ing a  human  form  to  God.  To  speak  of  His  hands  (as 
is  done  a  few  times)  is  almost  unavoidable  in  describ- 
ing His  activity.  Beyond  this  He  does  not  receive 
bodily  members.  That  the  traditions  are  more 
pronounced  than  the  Koran,  is  only  what  we  should 
expect,  but  how  far  we  can  rely  upon  these  is  difli- 
cult  to  decide.  We  shall  have  no  hesitancy  in  ac- 
cepting tradition  where  it  makes  Mohammed  say  that 
in  Paradise  the  believer  shall  see  God,  for  this  is  a 
hope  common  to  other  believers.  On  the  whole  the 
anthropomorphism  of  the  Koran  is  not  more  pro- 
nounced than  that  of  the  Bible. 

Now,  as  to  the  communion  which  exists  between 
God  and  his  worshippers — we  must  recognize  this 
also  as  a  principle  of  all  religion.     Even  in  heathen- 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  107 

ism  the  gods  enter  into  personal  relations  with  their 
worshippers  :  "  They  take  the  Satans  as  their  j^^'o- 
tectors  besides  Allah,  yet  think  they  are  guided 
aright ; "  **  Allah  is  the  protector  of  those  who  be- 
lieve; He  brings  them  from  darkness  into  light. 
But  as  for  those  who  disbelieve,  their  protectors 
are  the  devils ;  they  bring  them  from  light  to  dark- 
ness." *  The  word  translated  protector  {icali)  means 
the  next  of  kin,  who  has  the  right  and  the  obligation 
of  blood  revenge — the  gdel  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Mohammed's  conception  is  precisely  that  of  Job, who 
regards  God  as  his  "  Kedeemer  "  in  exactly  the  sense 
in  which  this  passage  speaks  of  protectors.  Moham- 
med allows  that  the  idolaters  have  entered  into  the 
relation  of  clientage  (if  I  may  so  say)  to  their  gods. 
The  protection  promised  is  of  no  avail,  not  because 
the  relation  does  not  exist,  but  because  the  protec- 
tors have  no  power  to  carry  out  what  they  have 
promised.  In  the  next  w^orld  the  w^orshipped  and 
the  w^orshippers  shall  alike  be  brought  to  confusion 
On  the  other  hand  the  God  and  Protector  of  Moham- 
med is  all  powerful,  and  therefore,  able  to  carry  out 
His  promise. 

The  sense  of  loyalty  to  God  is  expressed  in  the 
frequent  use  of  the  term  my  Lord,  in  which  the 
speaker  embodies  his  claim  on  God,  and  God's  claim 
on  him.  In  the  earliest  group  of  suras  this  term  is 
used  about  three  times  as  often  as  the  name  Allah, 
and  thus  shows  the  \dvid  sense  of  God's  presence 
with  which  the  Prophet  entered  on  his  mission.     In 

*7's  and  2-»''^  The  word  Tagliid  used  for  the  false  pidn  is 
obscure;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  meaning  in  this  context. 


lOS  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

the  choice  of  the  term  he  was  doubtless  under  Script- 
ural influence,  for  God  is  Lord  of  all  both  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  in  the  New.^*  The  vividness  of  Mo- 
hammed's faith,  which  impels  him  to  say  my  Lord 
does  not  cause  him  to  forget  the  claims  of  others. 
God  is  the  Lord  of  Abraham,  of  Moses,  even  of  the 
unbelievers. t  In  the  prayer  which  in  Islam  takes  the 
l^lace  of  the  Lord's  Prayer — the  Fatilia — He  is  the 
Lord  of  the  worlds.X  But  He  is  also  the  one  to  whom 
the  believer  cries  for  help. 

4.  Allah  is  the  Creator.  This  is  a  conception 
which  can  be  adequately  held  only  in  a  monotheistic 
religion.  Polytheism,  so  far  as  it  has  a  doctrine  of 
creation,  thinks  of  the  universe  as  modified  by  the 
strife  of  many  gods.  But  where  God  is  one,  crea- 
tion and  lordship  go  together.  Mohammed  followed 
Biblical  precedent  in  emphasizing  their  union.  One 
of  his  most  frequent  arguments  is  that  Allah  is  Crea- 
tor and  therefore  Lord,  or  even  that  He  is  Creator 
and  therefore  the  only  true  God.  There  is  no  sus- 
picion of  the  eternity  of  matter  in  the  Koran.  In  a 
tradition  we  find  this  question  put  to  Mohammed  : 
**  O,  Apostle  of  Allah,  w^here  was  our  Cherisher 
before  creating  His  creation  ?  "  He  replied :  "  God 
was,  and   nothing  was  with   Him,  and   God  created 

*  The  word  Rahh^  Mohammed's  word  for  Lord^  is  not  used  of  God 
in  Hebrew.  In  Aramaic  it  is  said  to  be  so  used  by  the  Mandseans 
(Michaelis,  Lexicon  Syr.  sub  voce).  This  is  another  indication  that 
Mohammed's  ideas  were  derived  from  some  "  heretical"  source. 

t5l3o,  7916^  5144^  cf.  69">. 

X  r,  cf.  69^^.  The  word  for  worlds  (or  ages  it  may  be)  is  bor- 
rowed from  the  Aramaic,  whether  Christian  or  Jewish  is  impossible 
to  tell.     Cf.  I.  Tim.  V\ 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  109 

His  imperial  throne  upon  water."  *     The  reference  of 
the  last  clause  is  so  obviously  to  the  account  in  Gen- 
esis, where  the  Spirit  of  God  brooded  on  the  face  of 
the  waters,  that  we  may  assume  Biblical  influence  on 
the  tradition.     Probably  the  influence   extended   to 
Mohammed  himself,  for  his  account  of  the  creation  is 
largely  borrowed  from  the  Bible.     For  example,  we 
are  told  that :  "  God  creates  what  He  will ;  when  He 
decides  upon   a  thing  He    says:   Be!  and  it   is."f 
The  Bibhcal  parallel  is  familiar.     Another  feature  of 
the  Bibhcal  account  found  in  the  Koran,  is  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  work  in  six  days  :  "  And  it  is 
He  who  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth  in  the 
space  of   six   days,    Avhile   His   throne   was  on   the 
waters."  %     An  evidence  of  Mohammed's  freedom  in 
treating  Biblical  materials  is  found,  however,  in  his 
assertion  that  God  was  not  affected  by  fatigue  § — an 
evident  rejection  of  the  Old  Testament   word   that 
God  rested  the  seventh  day.     Moreover  he  does  not 
seem  to  be  clear  as  to  the  order  of   the   six  days* 
work :  He  says  in  one  passage  :    "  Will  you  disbe- 
lieve in  God  who  made  the  earth  in  two  days     .     .     . 
and  made  the  mountains  which  tower  above  it,  and 
AVho  arranged  provision  upon  it  in  four  days,  suf- 
ficient for  those  who  ask.     Then  He  ascended  to  the 
heavens  when  they  were  yet  smoke,  and  said  to  them 
and  to  the  earth :  Come,  willingly  or  unwilling! j- !  They 
replied  :  We  come  willingl3\     And  He  divided  them 
into  seven  heavens  in  two  days,  and  communicated 
to  eacli  heaven  its  order,  and  We  decked  tlie  lower 

*  Mishcat,  II.,  C50.  t3'-,  W\ 

I  11",  cf.  50=%  57^.  §60-^\ 


110  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

heaven  with  lamps  and  guardians — this  was  the  de- 
cree of  the  Almighty,  the  Wise."  ^  By  counting  the 
two  days  first  mentioned  as  part  of  the  four,  we  can 
make  out  tiie  requisite  total  of  six.  But  even  then  it 
is  impossible  to  find  traces  of  the  Biblical  arrange- 
ment, in  which  the  creation  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
takes  place  on  the  fourth  day.  But  from  the  religious 
point  of  view  Mohammed  had  thoroughly  adopted  the 
doctrine  of  the  Bible,  as  the  following  somewhat  ex- 
tended quotation  will  make  plain : 

**  It  is  God  who  raised  the  heavens  without  visible  pil- 
lars ;  then  He  ascended  to  the  throne,  and  made  the  sun 
and  moon  obedient  [to  His  will],  so  that  each  runs  to  its 
appointed  goal.  He  regulates  affairs  and  makes  plain  His 
signs,  that  you  may  be  sure  of  the  meeting  with  your  Lord. 
And  it  is  He  who  spread  out  the  earth  and  made  in  it 
mountains  and  rivers  ;  and  of  every  fruit  He  made  two 
kinds.  He  makes  the  night  succeed  the  day — in  this  are 
signs  for  people  who  reflect.  And  in  the  earth  are  tracts 
[different  though]  bordering  on  each  other  :  vineyards  and 
fields  and  palms,  in  groups  or  isolated.  They  are  supplied 
with  the  same  water,  yet  We  make  the  quality  of  one  bet- 
ter than  that  of  another — verily  in  this  are  signs  for  people 
who  understand.  .  .  .  It  is  He  who  shows  you  the 
lightning,  an  object  of  terror  and  of  desire,  and  who  brings 
up  the  clouds  heavy  with  rain.  The  thunder  celebrates 
His  praise,  the  angels  also,  moved  by  fear  of  Him.  He 
sends  the  thunderbolts  and  smites  whom  He  will.  Yet  all 
the  while  men  are  disputing  concerning  God,  though  He  is 
the  mighty  in  power.  To  Him  sincere  prayer  should  be 
made,  and  those  whom  men  invoke  besides  Him  shall  not 
answer  them  in  any  respect,  any  more  than  one  stretching 
out  his  hands  to  the  water  which  he  cannot  reach  to  bring 
it  to  his  mouth.     The  prayer  of  the  unbelievers  is  only  loss. 

♦41  ^8  11). 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  111 

All  that  are  in  heaven  and  in  earth  bow  to  God  willingly  or 
unwillingly — even  their  shadows  bow  morning  and  evening. 
Who  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  ?  It  is  God.  And  will 
you  take  as  protector  those  who  cannot  benefit  or  harm 
even  themselves  ?  Are  the  blind  and  the  clear-eyed  alike  ? 
Is  the  darkness  the  same  as  the  light  ?  Will  they  give  God 
associates  who  create  as  He  creates,  so  that  the  creation  is 
confused  between  them  ?  [Nay  !]  God  is  the  Creator,  He  is 
the  One,  the  Victorious."* 

The  passage  shows  how  creation  and  government 
are  intertwined.  Although  not  parallel  to  any  single 
Biblical  text,  it  is  fall  of  Biblical  allusions.  God  is 
in  both  Old  Testament  and  New,  the  Creator  of 
heaven  and  earth ;  He  makes  the  sun  run  its  ap- 
pointed course ;  He  spreads  out  the  earth  and  what 
grows  upon  it ;  and  He  also  makes  fast  the  mountains. 
Further :  it  is  He  who  created  the  fruit  trees,  as 
well  as  herb  for  the  service  of  man,  bringing  forth 
bread  out  of  the  earth.  He  brings  up  the  thunder- 
storms also,  and  smites  the  Egyptians  with  this  as 
one  of  His  visitations ;  and  He  is  of  course  the  giver 
of  rain.f  The  figure  of  the  thunder  as  the  voice  of 
God  which  we  find  in  the  Old  Testament  is  not  re- 
peated by  Mohammed,  but  in  every  other  respect  his 
conception  of  Allah  as  the  master  of  the  storm  is 
parallel  to  that  of  the  Bible.  And  so  we  may  say  of 
the  conception  that  the  creation  is  for  the  benefit  of 
man,  whose  gratitude  should  lead  him  to  worship 
his   Creator.     All   created  things  adore   Him.     Not 

*  I3M,  13-17 

fFor  the  Biblical  phraseolofjy  consult  Gen.  !'•",  Ps.  lO"*,  104'9, 
Is.  42',  Ps.  65%  104'^  29.  Other  passages  will  suggest  themselves 
to  the  reader. 


112  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

only  does  the  thunder  chant  His  praise,  and  the 
angels  bow  before  Him,  all  things  on  earth  join  with 
them  :  "  All  that  are  in  heaven  and  on  earth  praise 
God,  His  is  the  kingdom  and  He  is  the  Ruler  over 
all."  * 

It  is  also  in  accord  with  Biblical  ideas  that  the  cre- 
ation should  be  used  as  evidence  of  the  character  of 
God.  It  is,  first  of  all,  an  evidence  of  His  power. 
When  men  scoffed  at  the  idea  of  a  resurrection  as 
being  a  thing  impossible,  Mohammed  pointed  out 
that  to  bring  men  from  dust  the  second  time  would 
not  be  difficult  for  Him  who  created  them  out  of  clay 
at  the  first.  The  creation  is  an  evidence  that  God 
can  do  (and  therefore  will  do)  wdiat  He  promises  or 
threatens.  The  argument  is  the  same  used  by  Deu- 
tero-Isaiah.  When  the  people  are  faint-hearted  con- 
cerning the  promises  of  God,  this  prophet  reminds 
them  that  the  promises  come  from  the  One  "who 
made  all  things,  who  stretched  out  the  heavens  alone, 
and  spread  abroad  the  earth  by  Himself."  Moham- 
med was  more  concerned  with  the  doubts  of  unbe- 
lievers than  with  the  discouragements  of  believers, 
but  in  bringing  his  message  to  his  people,  he  reminds 
them  that  the  power  shown  in  creation  may  be  turned 
upon  them  in  chastisement. 

The  creation  is,  further,  an  evidence  of  God's 
knowledge.  He  that  made  all  things  must  certainly 
know  all  things.  There  is  perhaps  no  attribute  which 
is  more  frequently  mentioned  than  this.  He  is  the 
Knowing,  the  Wise,  or,  God  is  a  discenier  of  ivhat  they 
do,  have  become  to  Mohammed  stereotype  phrases 

*  64'. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  113 

with  which  he  rounds  off  his  periods.  That  he  was 
not  unmindful  of  their  significance  is  seen  from  the 
more  extended  propositions  such  as  the  following : 
"Do  they  not  know  that  God  knows  what  they  con- 
ceal and  what  they  discourse  about  in  private,  and 
that  God  is  the  knower  of  secrets."  ^'  Again  :  "  Three 
do  not  sit  in  secret  converse  except  that  He  makes 
the  fourth,  or  five  without  His  being  the  sixth ;  and 
Avhether  there  be  few  or  more,  He  is  with  them  where- 
ever  they  are.  In  the  day  of  resurrection  He  will  tell 
them  what  they  have  done — verily  God  is  omnis- 
cient." f  The  Biblical  parallels  are  too  numerous  to 
quote.  The  particular  kind  of  knowledge  which  the 
Psalmist  finds  wonderful  when  he  says  :  "  Thine  eyes 
saw  my  formless  substance  and  in  Thy  book  all  was 
written  in  the  days  when  it  was  taking  shape  "  X  is 
also  emphasized  by  Mohammed.  And  where  the 
New  Testament  gives  the  fall  of  a  sparrow  as  within 
the  omniscient  eye,  Mohammed  adduces  the  fall  of  a 
leaf.§ 

5.  God  not  only  creates.  He  also  governs.  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  and  earth  is  His:  "Yerily  your 
Lord  is  the  God  who  created  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  in  six  days ;  then  He  took  His  seat  upon  the 
throne,  making  the  night  darken  the  day,  Avhich  [in 
its  turn]  follows  swiftly  ;  and  the  sun  and  moon  and 
the  constellations  are  obedient  to  His  command.  Do 
not  creation  and  rule  belong  to  Him  ?  Blessed  be 
God,  Lord  of  the  worlds."  II  The  mind  of  the  speaker 
sees  in  God  the  great  efficient  cause  of  all.     He  is 

*0'9,  cf.  21:1".  foS\  of.  3-\ 

X  Ps.  139'%  cf.  Koran  131       §  6  '',  cf.  Matt.  10-'^         ||  T-'^. 
8 


114  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

the  active  mover  of  the  constellations  and  the  sea- 
sons. In  another  passage  He  is  said  to  sit  upon  the 
throne  conducting  the  affairs  of  the  universe.  He  not 
only  gives  rain,  driving  the  clouds  as  He  will ;  He 
rules  in  the  affairs  of  men :  "  O  God,  Kuler  of  the 
Kingdom,  Thou  givest  the  kingdom  to  whom  Thou 
wilt,  and  Thou  takest  away  the  kingdom  from  whom 
Thou  wilt.  Thou  strengthenest  whom  Thou  wilt,  and 
Thou  humblest  whom  Thou  wilt,  and  in  Thy  hand  is 
good  ;  Thou  art  omnipotent."  *  We  are  reminded  of 
the  Song  of  Hannah ;  "  Yahweh  makes  poor  and  makes 
rich  :  He  makes  low  and  also  raises  on  high."  How 
far  God  employs  second  causes  we  need  not  now 
stop  to  inquire. 

6.  As  the  ruler  of  the  universe,  God  is  also  the 
God  of  history.  The  principle  of  His  government  is 
very  simple :  He  rewards  those  who  obey  and  He 
punishes  the  disobedient.  This  implies  some  reve- 
lation of  His  will.  As  we  saw  in  Mohammed's  treat- 
ment of  his  narrative  material,  all  history  falls  into 
epochs,  each  of  which  rounds  out  the  same  cycle.  God 
first  makes  His  will  known  by  a  prophet.  Men  either 
receive  the  message  and  obey,  or  they  reject  it 
and  are  destroyed.  It  may  not  always  be  necessary 
that  a  prophet  interpret  the  will  of  God.  Creation 
is  itself  a  revelation :  "In  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
are  signs  for  those  who  believe  ;  in  your  creation 
also  and  in  the  animals  which  are  dispersed  [over  the) 
earth]  are  signs  for  those  who  are  firm  in  their  faith  ,7 
and  in  the  succession  of  night  and  day,  and  in  the  \ 
X)ortion  which  God  sends  down  from  the  heavens,  y^ 

*  3^^%  cf .  I.  Sam.  2\ 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  OOD  115 

with  which  He  revives  the  earth  after  its  death,  and 
in  the  direction  of  the  winds — in  these  are  signs  for 
people  of  intelligence."  *  There  is  in  nature  there- 
fore a  revelation  of  God.  Whether  this  alone  is  a 
sufficient  guide  does  not  appear.  The  Prophet 
seems  not  to  have  raised  this  question.  In  history, 
as  he  saw  it,  God  was  accustomed  to  send  additional 
revelations  by  the  hand  of  His  messengers.  From 
this  point  of  view  His  justice  becomes  manifest — He 
gives  men  the  alternative  of  obedience  or  disobedience. 
He  can  rightly  punish  those  who  disobey  and  He  can 
rightly  reward  those  who  obey. 

It  follows  therefore  that  Allah  is  a  God  of  justice. 
Here  again,  Mohammed  had  a  practical  rather  than  a 
speculative  interest.  It  had  never  occurred  to  him 
(apparently)  to  inquire  whether  right  or  wrong  are 
dependent  on  the  will  of  God.  If  the  question  had 
been  put  to  him  he  would  very  likely  have  answered 
in  the  affirmative.  God  is  an  absolute  monarch  }  He 
does  what  He  pleases.  So  far  Mohammed  would  have 
said  that  the  will  of  God  is  the  ground  of  right  and 
wrong.  But  it  is  nevertheless  the  constant  assump- 
tion of  the  Koran  that  God  is  a  morally  perfect  char- 
acter. His  action  is  such  that  it  meets  our  idea  of 
right.f  Though  none  can  restrain  or  call  Him  to  ac- 
count, yet  He  does  not  punish  without  cause.  If  we 
fail  to  find  perfect  justice  in  His  dealings  with  men  in 
this  present  life,  we  must  turn  to  the  future  when  all 

t  "  The  Apostle  of  God  said  :  When  God  created  the  creation  IIo 
wrote  a  book  whicli  is  near  Hira  upon  the  imperial  throne,  and 
what  is  written  in  it  is  this  :  Verily  My  compassion  overcomes  My 
anger." — Mishcat^  I.,  p.  oGu. 


116  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

will  be  made  plain.  The  thonglit  of  the  Day  of  Judg- 
ment is  therefore  indispensable  to  our  idea  of  God's 
justice.  That  day  completes  the  purpose  of  creation. 
"  Did  you  reckon  that  We  created  you  in  sport,  and 
that  you  would  not  appear  before  Us  ?  "  *  This  is 
one  of  God's  questions  at  the  Judgment.  It  implies 
that  the  purpose  of  creation  is  attained  only  in  the 
final  apportionment  of  reward  and  punishment.  With- 
out this,  the  creation  of  man  would  have  been  a  vain 
act. 

God  does  not  always  act  according  to  our  desires 
or  hopes.  This  is  a  matter  of  universal  experience. 
The  explanation  of  it  in  the  Koran,  as  in  the  Bible,  is 
that  God  proves  men  :  "  Verily,  We  proved  them  as 
we  proved  the  owners  of  the  garden,  who  swore  that 
they  would  gather  its  fruits  the  next  morning.  They 
swore  without  reservation,  but  while  they  slept  there 
came  a  visitation  from  the  Lord,  and  in  the  morning 
it  [the  garden]  was  like  a  field  of  stubble."  t  Such 
an  experience  is  sent  to  try  the  state  of  man's  heart ; 
he  must  learn  from  it  that  he  is  not  independent  of 
God.  The  conclusion  is  plain,  and  is  expressed  in 
language  which  agrees  almost  verbally  with  an  exhor- 
tation of  the  New  Testament :  "  Do  not  say  concern- 
ing anything  :  I  will  do  it  to-morrow,  without  adding 
if  God  will,  and  remember  thy  Lord  when  thou  hast 
forgotten  Him,  and  say :  Perhaps  my  Lord  will 
guide  me  to  the  accomplishment  of  this  affair."  :|: 
The  alternations  of  fortune  in  the  experience  of  the 
Moslem  community  are  explained  as  a  part  of  their 
probation  :  "  We  make  the  days  [of  good  and  evil 
*  23"\  t  68'"'  ".  X  18-'S  ^f.  James  4'^ 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  117 

fortune]  to  alternate  among  men,  that  God  may  know 
those  who  believe,  and  may  take  from  you  martyrs 
for  Himself."  *  Were  constant  good  the  lot  of  man 
he  would  become  insupportable  :  "If  God  gave  pro- 
vision in  abundance  to  His  servants  they  would  act 
insolently  in  the  earth.  He  therefore  apportions  ac- 
cording to  His  will — He  knows  and  sees  His  ser- 
vants." f  God's  purpose  is  plain  :  "  We  will  prove 
you  by  ill  fortune  and  by  good,  as  a  test,  and  unto  Us 
shall  you  be  brought."  %  The  thought  is  distinctly 
Biblical.  Abraham  is  tested  by  the  command  to  offer 
his  son.  So  the  Koran  says  in  giving  an  account  of 
the  same  incident.§  That  Mohammed  so  understood 
the  experience  of  Job,  to  which  ho  also  alludes,  is 
made  probable  by  the  concluding  sentence  of  that 
passage  :  "  We  found  him  possessed  of  patience."  I! 
How  thoroughly  Mohammed  adopted  the  doctrine  is 
seen  in  his  statement  that  even  the  game  which  came 
in  sight  of  the  pilgrims  to  Mecca  was  sent  to  prove 
them,  to  discover  whether  they  would  obey  the  law : 
"  That  God  may  know  him  who  fears  Him  in  his 
heart."  *f  Apparent  cases  in  which  God's  actions 
cannot  be  explained  on  our  ideas  of  justice  are  there- 
fore only  apparent.  He  acts  in  a  mysterious  way 
sometimes,  but  in  the  end  all  will  be  plain,  and  we 
shall  see  the  wicked  punished  and  the  good  rewarded. 
The  reward  of  those  who  do  well  is  affirmed  on 
almost  every  page  of  the  Koran.  The  great  burden 
of  Mohammed's  preaching  is  the  Day  of  Judgment. 
This  day  will  result  in  endless  pleasure  for  the  good, 

♦S'""^.  142'^  J213«. 

§37'%  cf.  2"8.  II  :]8'^  f  595. 


118  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

as  it  will  bring  endless  pain  to  tlie  evil :  "  Shall  I 
tell  you  what  is  better  [than  the  pleasures  of  this 
world]  ?  Those  who  fear  God  shall  possess  in  the 
presence  of  their  Lord  Gardens  in  which  are  peren- 
nial streams,  and  pure  wives,  and  the  good  favor  of 
God  ;  God  has  regard  to  His  servants."  "  Those  who 
fear  God  shall  dwell  in  the  midst  of  gardens  and 
fountains,  partaking  of  what  their  Lord  gives  them  ; 
they  are  the  ones  who  did  well  in  their  earlier  [that 
is,  their  earthly]  life."  ^  God,  therefore,  does  not 
desire  to  bring  men  into  evil.  After  speaking  of  the 
future  life,  the  speaker  adds  :  "  These  are  the  won- 
ders of  God  which  we  recite  to  thee ;  God  does  not 
desire  injustice  to  the  universe."  t  The  passage  re- 
minds us  of  Ezekiel's  declaration,  that  God  does  not 
desire  the  death  of  the  wicked,  and  the  resemblance  is 
the  more  marked  in  that  both  cases  imply  that  the 
prophet  is  sent  because  God  does  not  desire  to  do 
injustice.  His  desire  is  rather  that  man  may  have 
opportunity  to  repent.  Nevertheless,  He  must  take 
cognizance  of  men's  actions.  This  is  one  evidence  of 
His  superiority  over  the  idols :  "  He  who  is  mindful 
of  every  soul  with  regard  to  what  it  has  earned — will 
they  take  others  besides  such  a  God  ?  " }:  Here  is 
where  His  omniscience  most  nearly  concerns  us. 
Because  He  is  all-seeing,  He  can  vindicate  justice : 
'*  How  will  it  be  when  We  assemble  you  to  a  Day 
concerning  which  there  is  no  doubt,  and  every  soul 
shall  be  paid  what  it  has  earned,  and  none  shall  be 
treated  unjustly  ?  "  § 

As  for  God's  justice  in  punishing,  we  may  find  it 

*  3''  and  ^V"  ^.  f  3"^^  X  l^'^'-  §  3'^*- 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  119 

even  in  the  present  world.  Historically  it  appears  in 
the  destruction  of  Pharaoh  and  other  wrong-doers  in 
the  past :  "  God  seized  them  for  their  sins,  and  God 
is  strict  in  taking  account."  ^  Elsewhere  God  is  de- 
scribed as  quick  in  reckoning,  so  that  He  does  not  fail 
in  determining  the  just  dues  of  each  one  :  "  We  will 
establish  the  scales  of  equity  in  the  Day  of  Eesurrec- 
tion,  and  no  soul  shall  be  wronged  in  any  matter  ; 
were  it  the  weight  of  a  grain  of  mustard  seed.  We  will 
pay  it,  and  We  are  suificient  as  accountants."  -f  The 
phrase  grain  of  mustard  seed  makes  us  suspect  New 
Testament  influence,  but  it  may  be  only  a  proverbial 
phrase,  of  whose  New  Testament  origin  Mohammed 
had  no  knowledge.  The  conception  of  the  scales  of 
justice  is  found  in  the  Bible,  though  also  found  in 
extra-Biblical  sources.  In  the  Bible  it  is  generally 
the  men  who  are  weighed  instead  of  their  actions. 
The  figure  is  natural  and  appropriate  in  either  form. 
The  specific  statement  that  God  calls  men  to  account 
is  also  Biblical.^ 

Because  of  His  justice  God  hates  the  evil :  "  Those 
who  disbelieve  will  be  summoned  [and  told] :  The 
hatred  of  God  is  gi-eater  than  your  hatred  of  each 
other  [was]  when  you  were  invited  to  the  faith  and 
disbelieved."  §  The  path  in  which  the  believer  de- 
sires to  be  led  is  the  path  of  those  with  whom  God 
is  not  angry.  The  Israelites  who  murmured  at  the 
manna,  returned  with  the  anger  of  God  upon  them. 
When  a  believer  kills  another  believer,  his  portion 

♦3'.  t21"*.    J 

t  Compare  Rom.  \V\  I.  Sam.  2",  Ps.  Q2'\  Dau.  5". 
§  40'^ 


120  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

will  be  hell  fire  :  "  God  is  angry  with  him  and  curses 
him  and  prepares  for  him  a  grievous  punishment."  * 
Similar  language  is  used  of  the  Israelites  who  were 
changed  into  apes  and  swine,  and  also  of  the  hypo- 
crites at  Medina,  t  How  closely  it  follows  Biblical 
precedent,  I  need  scarcely  say.  In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, God  is  a  just  judge,  and  as  such  is  angry  every 
day.  When  the  people  worship  the  golden  calf  His 
anger  burns  against  them.  J.  In  the  New  Testament 
also,  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against 
all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of  men. 

7.  Strict  justice  would  result  in  the  extermination 
of  the  race  :  *'  If  God  should  take  men  in  their  sin, 
He  would  not  leave  upon  the  earth  a  living  creature. 
But  He  grants  them  delay  till  a  fixed  term.  When 
their  term  shall  come  it  will  not  be  delayed  or  ad- 
vanced an  hour."  §  God  is  therefore  long-siiffering  ; 
He  does  not  hasten  His  punishment.  This  is  the  ex- 
planation of  a  fact  which  probably  perplexed  Mo- 
hammed as  it  had  perplexed  the  Biblical  writers.  We 
see  that  in  this  world  wicked  men  often  enjoy  good 
fortune  for  a  long  time.  The  perplexity  does  not 
arise  merely  from  the  inequality  in  the  lot  of  the  good 
and  the  bad.  The  prolongation  of  the  life  of  a  wicked 
man  gives  him  a  prolonged  opportunity  to  do  the 
evil  things  that  God  hates.  Why  does  not  God 
speedily  cut  such  men  off?  Two  answers  are  pos- 
sible. God  may  be  giving  them  the  opportunity  to 
repent ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  He  may  be  allowing 
them  to  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniquity,  so  as  to 

*  4»\  cf .  2 '8.  t  5"''  and  48*^. 

X  Ex.  32'",  Ps.  7'-,  and  Rom.  1'^  §  16"'. 


THE  DOGTIUNE  OF  GOD  121 

earn  the  more  complete  and  exemplary  puDisliment. 
Both  these  solutions  of  the  problem  are  presented  in 
the  Bible,  and  Mohammed  also  seems  to  have  enter- 
tained both,  though  he  does  not  sharply  distinguish 
between  them.  The  passage  quoted  above  seems  to 
say  only  that  a  strict  administration  of  justice  cannot 
be  carried  out,  because  no  one  could  stand  before  it. 
It  agrees  with  the  Psalmist  who  says  :  "  If  Yahweli 
should  closely  watch  iniquities,  O  Lord,  who  could 
stand  ?  "  *  On  this  side,  God's  mercy  is  simply  a 
concession  to  human  weakness.  But  that  He  also 
spares  men  in  order  that  they  may  repent,  while  not 
directly  stated,  is  implied  in  many  passages  which 
speak  of  Him  as  merciful  and  gracious,  as  inviting 
men  to  repentance  and  Himself  loving  to  turn  to 
those  who  turn  to  Him.  But  we  find  also  the  theory 
that  the  wicked  are  spared  in  order  that  they  may 
(like  the  Amorites)  fill  up  the  measure  of  their  iniq- 
uity :  "  Let  not  those  who  disbelieve  reckon  that  the 
long  life  which  We  grant  them  is  a  good  to  them.  We 
grant  it  only  that  they  may  increase  their  guilt,  and 
they  shall  receive  a  shameful  punishment."  t 

Although  this  threat  is  uttered  against  those  who 
persist  in  their  iniquity,  there  is  a  distinct  doctrine 
of  forgiveness  taught  in  the  Koran.  Sins  committed 
before  the  coming  of  the  revelation  are  passed  over 
with  indulgence,  because  allowance  is  made  for  the 
state  of  ignorance.  There  is  here  a  very  close  parallel 
to  Paul's  declaration  that  God  overlooked  the  times 
of  ignorance,  but  nozo  calls  on  all  men  everywhere  to 
repent.J     A  striking  parallel  with  a  Biblical  passage 

*  1*8.  130-'.  t:5'^-',  of.  On.  15"^.  J  Acts  17^S  cf.  Ivor.  5"^ 


122  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

is  found  again  where  the  justice  and  the  mercy  of 
God  are  placed  side  by  side :  "The  revelation  of  the 
Book  from  God,  the  Mighty,  the  Wise ;  the  one  who 
forgives  sin,  accepting  repentance,  strict  in  His  pun- 
ishments, the  Bountiful,  besides  whom  there  is  no 
God."  *  The  Biblical  parallel  which  I  have  in  mind 
is  of  course  the  Name  proclaimed  before  Moses  in 
Horeb :  "  Yahweh,  a  merciful  and  gracious  God,  slow 
to  anger  and  plenteous  in  kindness  and  truth,  keeping 
kindness  for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  trans- 
gression and  sin ;  but  who  will  not  pronounce  inno- 
cent— visiting  the  iniquities  of  fathers  upon  children 
and  grandchildren,  upon  the  third  generation  and  upon 
the  fourth."  f  In  the  case  of  Mohammed,  at  any  rate, 
there  seems  to  be  no  consciousness  that  justice  could 
conflict  with  mercy.  In  other  words,  there  is  no 
theory  of  an  atonement.  The  words  expiation  and 
redemption  may  be  said  to  exist  in  Arabic  but  they 
have  sunk  to  almost  trivial  importance.  In  certain 
cases  of  transgression,  a  sort  of  equivalent  must  bo 
paid.  If  a  man  breaks  his  oath,  he  must,  as  an  ex- 
piation,X  feed  or  clothe  ten  poor  men,  or  free  a  slave. 
If  either  of  these  be  beyond  his  power  he  must  fast 
a  certain  number  of  days.  Redemption  is  used  of  a 
similar  fine  or  satisfaction.  In  no  case  is  there  an 
intimation  that  this  is  more  than  a  punishment  in- 
flicted for  the  sin.  It  is  nowhere  brought  into  rela- 
tion with  the  wrath  of  God.     Atonement  or  propitia- 

*  40'-3.  t  Ex.  W"\ 

X  The  word  used  is  Kaffara^  corresponding  to  the  Hebrew  Kap- 
poreth.  Fidya^  redemption,  is  also  from  a  root  used  in  Hebrew. 
But  Arabic  usage  seems  independent  of  Old  Testament  influence  in 
this  case. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  QOD  123 

tion  in  tlie  sense  in  wliicli  tliey  are  understood  in 
Cliristian  tlieology  do  not  appear  in  the  Koran. 

That  goodness  is  one  of  the  attributes  of  God  must 
be  evident  from  what  has  already  been  said.  This 
goodness  extends  to  all  His  creatures  :  "  There  is  not 
a  living  thing  in  the  earth  whose  nourishment  is  not 
dependent  upon  God.  He  knows  its  abiding  place 
and  its  resting."  *  Even  the  birds  are  sustained  in 
their  flight  by  Him.-t*  He  adapts  His  burdens  to 
those  who  carry  them  :  "  We  do  not  lay  upon  any 
soul  more  than  it  can  bear."  %  The  consequence  is 
given  in  the  words :  "If  you  remember  the  favors 
of  God,  you  will  not  be  able  to  count  them."  §  In  a 
number  of  passages  the  Koran  rises  to  the  affirmation 
of  the  love  of  God.  But  the  objects  of  His  love  are 
those  who  do  well.  The  sublime  declaration  of  the 
New  Testament :  "  God  commendeth  His  love  toward 
us  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for 
us,"  seems  to  be  without  parallel  in  the  sacred  book 
of  Islam. 

Here  is  where  Mohammed  and  Christianity  (at 
least  in  the  orthodox  form)  part  company.  Up  to 
this  point,  his  idea  is  essentially  the  theism  of  the 
Bible.  He  may  be  said  (as  he  has  been  said)  to  main- 
tain the  separation  of  God  from  the  world  with  more 
precision  and  rigor  than  does  Judaism  even.  II  But 
in  substance  he  holds  the  Biblical  idea  of  God,  and 
he  would  not  have  objected  to  the  definition  cuiTent 
among  us — that  God  is  a  Spirit,  infinite,  eternal,  and 
unchangeable  in  His  being,  wisdom,  power,  holiness, 

*11«.  t07'9.  +G'-'^ 

§1G'S,  cf.  Ps.  40''.  II  Dozy,  L'Islamxsme,  p.  315. 


124  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

justice,  goodness,  and  truth.  Moreover  lie  holds  to 
God  as  a  present  personality,  "  nearer  to  man  than  the 
vein  of  his  neck."  ^  But  he  was  not  led  to  the  thought 
that  God  could  or  would  come  to  man  by  an  incarna- 
/  tion.  As  we  saw  in  the  last  lecture,  this  doctrine  was 
probably  not  fairly  presented  to  him.  He  learned  of 
it  as  the  deification  of  a  man,  rather  than  as  the  in- 
carnation of  God.  In  this  form  he  could  not  help  re- 
jecting the  doctrine.  Nor  on  the  side  of  the  media- 
torial work  of  Christ  did  he  have  any  leaning  toward 
the  Christian  view.  The  necessity  of  bridging  over 
the  chasm  between  God  and  the  world — a  necessity 
that  appeals  very  strongly  to  some  minds — seems  not 
to  have  existed  for  him.  We  should  remember  that 
the  doctrine  of  mediation  was  associated  with  what  he 
must  class  as  idolatry.  In  the  Eastern  Church,  the 
mediation  of  saints  and  angels  is  held  very  strongly 
even  to  the  present  day,  and  leads  to  the  excessive 
devotion  paid  to  them  and  to  their  pictures. |  In 
heathenism  the  subordinate  divinities  are  intercessors 
with  the  higher  gods.  The  whole  idea  of  mediation 
therefore  presented  itself  to  Mohammed  under  an  un- 
favorable aspect.  This  was  especially  true  after  he 
had  made  his  experiment  at  compromise  with  the 
Meccans.  There  was  a  time  when  he  tried  to  make 
use  of  this  doctrine  of  mediation,  to  produce  some- 
thing on  which  he  and  his  countrymen  could  unite. 
His  plan  was  to  recognize  the  tliree  Goddesses,  upon 
whose  worship  the  Meccans  laid  the  most  stress,  as 
daughters  of  Allah  and  mediators  with  Him.  Every 
worldly  motive  urged  him  to  such  a  compromise,  and 

*50'^  f  Cf.  Kattenbuscli,  Confession sJcunde,  I.,  p.  461. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  126 

he  probably  flattered  himself  that  he  would  thereby 
secure  the  essentials  of  his  system.  The  Arabs  have 
been  willing  to  forget  what  actually  took  place.  It 
seems  probable  that  a  formal  agreement  was  made, 
by  which  the  Meccans  recognized  the  supremacy  of 
Allah,  while  Mohammed  and  his  followers  were  to 
allow  the  v/orship  of  the  three  Goddesses  as  inter- 
cessors with  Allah.  All  that  has  come  down  to  us,  is 
a  tradition  to  the  effect  that  Mohammed,  in  reciting 
the  fifty- third  sura^gi>the  Koran,  included  in  it  these 
words  :  "Do  yo^^S^^i  Lat  ai^ff^za  and  Manat, 
the  third  besid^^  .;T^^^e^tiie^^ted  maidens  " 
and  their  mterJfession  i^_^^^Bj3X)ped  fof.  ihe  Mec- 
cans who  were  ^^nt  ^rersm:pris6<T  and  delighted 
at  the  mention  nf  fWBvff^^iJ-fo  and  at  the  close  of 
the  recitation  all  prostrated  themselves,  following  the 
example  of  the  Prophet.  The  tradition  goes  on  to 
say,  that  in  the  evening  he  was  visited  by  Gabriel 
who  heard  him  repeat  the  sura  and  disavowed  the 
compromising  words.  Mohammed  was  convinced 
that  he  had  been  misled  by  Satan  and  he  at  once 
adopted  the  true  reading  and  published  it  the  next 
day  in  the  words :  "  Do  you  not  see  Lat  and  Uzza 
and  Manat  the  third  besides  ?  Shall  you  have  sons 
and  He  have  daughters  ?t  That  were,  indeed,  a 
wrong  division.  These  are  but  names  which  you 
and  your  fathers  have  named ;  God  has  not  delegated 

*  The  word  is  obscure  and  the  Arabs  themselves  are  divided  as  to 
its  meaning.  I  choose  among  the  meanings  (or  conjectures)  the  word 
most  appropriate  to  the  context.  The  authorities  are  given  by 
Sprenger,  Leben  Muhammed's,  II.,  p.  45  ff.  ;  Muir,  Life  of  Ma- 
homet^ II.,  p.  150  ff. 

t  Daughters  are  inferior  to  sons  in  the  view  of  the  Arabs,  cf.  13"*. 


126  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to  tliein  any  power.  [Tlie  unbelievers]  follow  only 
conjecture  and  what  tlieir  souls  desire,  though  there 
has  come  to  them  guidance  from  their  Lord."  ^  So 
far  tradition ;  whatever  the  actual  course  of  events, 
it  seems  probable  that  Mohammed  made  a  serious 
attempt  to  introduce  authorized  mediators  of  a  divine 
character  into  his  religion.  But  the  scheme  would 
not  work.  His  idea  of  the  unity  of  God  was  too 
absolute  to  admit  even  subordinate  divinities.  After 
this  experience,  he  was  careful  to  defend  the  strict 
oneness  and  transcendentality  of  God. 
/■  The  incarnation  and  the  mediatorial  work  of  Christ, 
therefore,  fall  (for  him)  under  the  same  condemnation 
:  with  the  heathen  ideas  which  he  rejected :  "  Men 
serve,  besides  God,  that  which  cannot  harm  nor  profit 
them,  and  they  say :  These  are  our  intercessors  with 
God.  Say  to  them :  Will  you  inform  God  concern- 
ing what  He  does  not  know  either  in  the  heavens  or 
in  the  earth  ?  Praise  be  to  Him ;  He  is  exalted 
above  what  they  associate  with  Him."  "  Men  say  : 
The  Compassionate  has  taken  a  son.  Far  be  it  from 
Him !  Rather,  these  are  honored  servants ;  they  do 
not  speak  to  Him  before  He  speaks  to  them,  and  they 
do  according  to  His  commands.  He  knows  what  is 
before  them  and  what  is  behind  them,  and  none  in- 
tercede except  for  the  one  for  whom  permission  is 
given,  and  they  constantly  tremble  in  fear  of  Him."  f 
Intercession  is  here  denied  on  two  grounds  :  the  in- 
tercessors cannot  tell  God  anything  He  does  not  al- 
ready know ;  and  no  created  being  dares  to  speak  to 
Him  without  His  permission,  which  permission  will 


THE  DOCTRINE  OB'  GOD  127 

not  be  given  in  case  the  intercession  concerns  a  man 
with  whom  He  is  ah-eady  displeased.  It  is  in  accord 
with  this  that  we  read  :  "  And  warn  those  who  fear 
God  that  they  shall  be  gathered  to  their  Lord ;  be- 
sides Him  they  have  neither  protector  nor  interces- 
sor."^ 

But,  like  the  most  of  us,  Mohammed  was  not  al- 
ways entirely  consistent.  On  this  point  he  was  led 
to  modify  his  position.  Probably  his  own  experience 
furnishes  the  explanation.  He  was  himself  often 
asked  by  his  followers  to  pray  for  them.  He  found 
satisfaction  also  in  praying  for  those  he  loved.  His 
experience  of  the  value  of  intercession  in  this  world 
led  him  to  believe  that  in  the  other  world  he  would 
be  allowed  thus  to  help  his  followers.  The  traditions 
report  him  as  saying  that  in  the  Day  of  Judgment  he 
will  intercede  even  when  the  other  prophets  declare 
their  inability.  It  is  possible  that  these  traditions  t 
are  colored  by  the  views  of  later  times.  But  we  are 
tempted  to  allow  them  some  weight,  because  some 
Koran  passages  seem  to  allow  the  intercession  of 
those  to  whom  God  gives  permission,  by  which  he 
means  the  greater  prophets — those  who  had  founded 
religions.  These  would  be  allowed  to  intercede  for 
their  followers  and  to  bring  them  into  Paradise. 

All  this  shows  how  far  Mohammed  was  from  enter- 
taining the  ideas  of  incarnation,  atonement,  or  medi- 
ation, as  these  have  been  developed  in  Christian  the- 
ology. It  has  been  supposed  by  some  that  he  made 
one  attempt  at  postulating  a  difference  of  persons  (to 
use  the  established  theological  term)  in  the  Godhead. 
*  6^'  and  cf.  2^\  t  Cf.  Mishcat,  II.,  p.  GOo  fif. 


128  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

In  one  group  of  suras,  he  uses  predominantly  the 
name  Rahman  as  a  name  of  God.  As  the  word  oc- 
curs in  Hebrew  and  Aramaic,  it  is  probable  that  he 
borrowed  it.  It  is  a  perfectly  good  Arabic  form  how- 
ever, and  occurs  in  inscriptions  from  southern  Arabia 
which  are  apparently  older  than  the  time  of  Moham- 
med."^' It  means  the  Compassionate  and  is  used  as  an 
exact  equivalent  for  the  name  Allah.  Thus  :  Rahman 
punishes  the  wicked ;  He  sits  on  the  throne  ;  His 
signs  [or  revelations]  are  recited  to  men ;  to  Him 
Satan  is  disobedient ;  and  at  the  Last  Day  men  shall 
be  congregated  to  Him.t  There  is  here  no  trace  of 
a  second  person  of  the  Godhead,  a  Divine  Mediator, 
or  an  Emanation  from  the  Supreme.  All  we  can 
base  on  the  phenomena,  is  the  theory  that  Moham- 
med wished  to  introduce  another  name  for  God,  per- 
haps because  Allah  v/slq  the  name  associated  wdtli  the 
old  heathenism.  Possibly  the  mistake  he  made  in 
the  concession  to  the  Meccans,  caused  in  his  mind  a^^ 
revolt  even  against  their  vocabulary.  .  Rahmanan  was 
the  name  of  God  the  Father  amonor  the  Christians  of 
Southern  Arabia.  Its  meaning  was  appropriate  to 
his  purpose.  The  choice  was  therefore  a  good  one, 
and  the  motive  of  the  choice  was  honorable.  But  the 
obstacles  were  too  many.  The  small  but  earnest 
band  of  Moslems  were  already  attached  to  the  old 
name.     They  had  taken  up  the  cause  of  Allah  and 

*  The  adjective  form  rahviani  occurs  once  in  the  Old  Testament, 
Lam.  4'".  For  the  Talmud  cf.  Levy,  N,  H.  W.  B.  sub  voce,  and 
Geigerin  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  XXI.,  p.  488  ff.  The  latter  also  discusses 
the  Syriac  use.  For  the  inscriptions,  Glaser,  Skizze  der  Geschichte 
Arabiens  (1889),  pp.  4,  13. 

t  19'%   20',    19 -^^  45.  88, 


TUB  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  129 

His  Apostle.  Ealiman  they  knew  not.  In  their  per- 
plexity and  in  the  renewed  and  bitter  persecution 
which  came  upon  them,  Mohammed  had  enough  to 
do  to  hold  on  to  what  he  had  already  attained.  The 
attempt  to  introduce  the  new  name  was  therefore 
abandoned  with  the  words  :  "  Call  upon  Allah,  or  call 
upon  Kahman;  by  whatever  name  you  call  upon 
Him  [He  hears]  ;  all  beautiful  names  are  His."*  In 
all  this  there  was  no  inconsistency,  and  no  near  ap- 
proach to  Christian  doctrine. 

One  thing  more  must  be  said.  The  name  which 
our  Lord  adopted  and  by  which  He  taught  us  to  call 
upon  God  was  our  Father.  Mohammed  nowhere 
rose  to  this  assurance  of  faith.  God  was  his  Lord, 
his  Protector,  his  Cherisher,  but  so  far  as  I  can  dis- 
cover, he  never  calls  Him  Father.  It  is  likely  that, 
in  this  respect  also,  the  Prophet  was  restrained  by 
the  heathen  conceptions  which  expressed  themselves 
in  similar  language.  We  have  some  evidence  that 
the  primitive  religions  of  the  Semites,  like  those  of 
other  races,  looked  upon  the  God  of  a  particular  tribe 
as  the  father  of  the  tribe. t  The  physical  and  ma- 
terial sense  in  which  this  was  understood,  would  pre- 
vent Mohammed's  adoption  of  a  similar  conception. 
And  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Christianity  of  his 
day  was  capable  of  giving  him  a  clear  presentation  of 
the  Biblical  idea.  To  the  early  Church,  God  was  the 
supreme  Lord  who,  so  far  from  condescending  to 
man,  must  be  invoked  through  the  saints,  the  mar- 
tyrs, and  the  angels.  The  confession  of  faith  was 
"  the  recognition  of  God  as  the  One,  the  Supramun- 

*  17"^  tW.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites^  p.  31  11. 

9 


130  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

dane,  the  Spiritual,  the  Almighty.  God  is  the  Creator 
and  Ruler  of  the  world  and  therefore  the  Lord."  ^ 
This  was  probably  as  much  as  Mohammed  ever  heard 
from  Christian  sources.  To  this  height  he  rose ;  we 
can  hardly  blame  him  for  not  rising  higher. 

Reviewing  what  has  been  said  in  this  lecture,  we 
are  entitled  to  say  that  Mohammed  made  a  great  ad- 
vance over  the  doctrine  of  God  (if  we  may  call  it  so) 
held  by  his  contemporaries.  All  the  indications  point 
to  the  low  esteem  in  which  the  heathen  Arabs  hold 
their  gods.  "  When  the  oracle  at  Tabala  forbade  the 
poet  Imraulcais  to  make  war  on  the  slayers  of  his  fa- 
ther, he  broke  the  lot  and  dashed  the  ]3ieces  in  the  face 
of  the  god,  exclaiming,  with  a  gross  and  insulting  ex- 
pletive :  'If  it  had  been  thy  father  that  was  killed, 
thou  wouldst  not  have  refused  me  vengeance.'  "  f  The 
incident  is  characteristic  of  heathenism.  The  gods, 
being  gods  of  particular  tribes,  are  of  limited  power, 
and,  consequently,  limited  reverence  is  paid  them. 
They  stand  on  much  the  same  plane  with  their  wor- 
shippers, whoso  kinsmen,  fellows,  allies,  they  are. 
Mohammed  had  the  view  of  a  God  more  exalted,  more 
powerful,  infinite  in  His  perfections  (or  at  least  be- 
yond any  human  standard),  and,  therefore,  more  wor- 
thy of  reverence  and  adoration.  When  Mohammed 
first  came  to  Medina,  his  new  followers  used  to  say  in 
their  prayers,  "  Peace  be  to  Allah,"  using  the  saluta- 
tion with  which  they  were  accustomed  to  greet  their 
friends.  Mohammed  commanded :  "  Do  not  say  : 
Peace  to  Allah!  for  Allah  Himself  is  peace.     Say, 

*  Ilarnack,  Grundriss  d.  Dogmengeschichte-^  p .  35. 
t  W.  R.  Smith,  op.  cit,  p.  47. 


THE  DOCTRINE  OF  GOD  131 

rather  :  Eternal  life  belongs  to  Allah,  and  mercies  and 
goodness."  ^  The  incident  illustrates  how  the  con- 
verts brought  with  them  the  old  familiar  way  of 
regarding  God,  and  how  Mohammed  inculcated  a 
worthier  estimation,  and  a  more  becoming  devotion. 
It  is  no  doubt  a  mistake  to  put  God  too  far  away  from 
us,  and  Islam,  especially  in  its  rigid  theological  sys- 
tem, as  developed  after  the  death  of  Mohammed, 
made  this  mistake.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  familiar- 
ity breeds  contempt,  and  the  light-minded  Arabs 
were  inclined  to  this  extreme.  The  old  fear  of  the 
gods  had  largely  disappeared.  Mohammed  renewed 
the  fear  of  God  by  showing  a  God  worthy  of  being 
feared,  the  fear  of  whom  could  become  genuine  rev- 
erence. The  idea  of  this  God  came  to  him  from  the 
Bible,  but  colored  by  the  Jewish  or  Christian  con- 
ceptions current  in  that  age.  It  was  perhaps  inevi- 
table that  his  idea  should  fall  short  of  the  Biblical 
fulness.  Had  it  been  more  adequate,  it  would  per- 
haps have  been  less  adapted  to  the  people  to  whom  he 
made  it  known.  The  wonder  is  that,  unlettered  as  he 
was,  himself  the  child  of  heathenism,  and  receiving 
the  Biblical  conception  through  so  imperfect  a  me- 
dium, he  was  able  to  assimilate  so  much,  and  to  pre- 
sent it  so  powerfully  to  his  equally  rude  and  untaught 
countrymen. 

* Bochari^  I.,  p.  187. 


LECTUEE  V. 

THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT 

In  the  last  lecture  we  saw  that  in  the  system  of 
Mohammed,  God  is  the  Euler  of  the  universe.  He 
is  the  King,  the  Lord  of  the  ages.  Like  the  Bibli- 
cal writers,  Mohammed  conceived  this  very  literally. 
To  him  God  is  the  active  mover  of  the  constella- 
tions and  the  seasons.  Our  notion  of  second  causes 
or  of  a  fixed  law  of  nature  had  not  entered  his  mind. 
God  works  by  means  of  His  creatures,  but  His  di- 
rect command  passes  upon  them  for  each  of  their 
acts.  In  this  sense  he  delegates  a  part  of  His 
power  to  man.  In  the  account  of  the  creation  of 
man,  God  says  that  He  is  about  to  place  a  vicegerent 
on  the  earth ;  and  again  :  "  Do  you  not  see  that  God 
has  made  subservient  to  you  what  is  in  the  heavens 
and  what  is  in  the  earth  ?  "  "^  The  doctrine,  as  you 
discover,  is  that  of  the  Bible.  Man  is  the  ruler 
over  nature,  and  nature  is  created  for  man's  use  and 
benefit. 

The  existence  of  intelligent  creatures  who  are 
strictly  obedient  to  God  makes  no  difficulty  with  His 
government.  But  when  we  assert  the  freedom  of 
these  creatures,  there  is  implied  a  possibility  that 
they  may  act  contrary  to  His  command,  and  a  prob- 

♦  Koran  SV%  cf .  2'^\ 
132 


TUE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  133 

lem  emerges.  As  soon  as  we  assert  tlie  existence  of 
sin  the  problem  becomes  acute.  For  sin  is  the  free- 
dom of  the  created  will  asserting  itself  against  the 
will  of  the  Creator.  This  is  the  great  question  with 
which  philosophy  has  wrestled  since  first  man  began 
to  reflect  upon  his  relation  to  the  universe. 

The  question  assumes  its  largest  proportions  in 
monotheism.  In  polytheism  there  is  no  single  will 
which  claims  to  rule  the  sum  of  things.  The  gods 
are  necessarily  limited  in  power,  because  there  are 
several  of  them.  In  dualism  the  solution  is  found  by 
assuming  an  eternal  conflict  between  two  powers — a 
solution  which  projects  the  shadow  of  evil  into  the 
infinite  both  before  and  behind.  For  Mohammed, 
with  whom  we  have  now  to  deal,  this  solution  had  no 
attractions,  and  he  does  not  betray  an  acquaintance 
with  it  even  in  his  polemic. 

The  most  religious  minds  seem  to  answer  oui*  prob- 
lem by  determinism — that  is,  they  cling  to  the  sover- 
eignty of  God  and  let  the  freedom  of  the  creature 
exist  only  in  appearance.  Even  in  heathenism  this 
theory  asserts  itself.  The  Greeks  in  their  theology 
found  room  for  an  all-deciding  fate  against  whom 
Zeus  himself  was  powerless.  The  heathen  Arab 
saw  in  Avhat  went  on  around  him  the  working  of  Des- 
tiny— a  power  that  rules  the  world  and  accomplishes 
its  will  in  spite  of  gods  and  men.  The  Bedawy 
(says  Wellhausen)  is  the  independent  man — "  his 
own  arm  helps  him,  and  his  brother ;  no  god  assists 
him  ;  he  commends  his  soul  to  no  saint.  Allah  is  to 
him  fate,  and  nothing  more :  Fate  is  generally  spoken 
of  without  qualification — not  as  the  decree  of  Allah. 


134  TUB]  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

But  the  conviction  that  all  is  decreed  and  j)redestined 
spurs  on  the  Arab  hero  and  poet  to  do  what  he  has 
undertaken  without  consideration  of  danger.  *  Fear 
not  to  march  against  danger,  for  the  danger  which  a 
man  tries  to  avoid  is  just  the  one  that  he  meets ' — 
the  dog  bites  the  one  who  is  afraid  of  him.  Fatalism, 
if  we  may  call  it  so,  does  not  lead  the  Arab  to  fold 
his  hands  in  his  bosom.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the 
source  of  desperate  energy — it  is  of  no  use  to  avoid 
death;  therefore  Forward!  And,  further,  the  cer- 
tainty of  death  is  a  motive  to  give  freely  and  not  to 
be  anxious  for  the  morrow ;  '  I  know  that  an  evening 
is  coming,  after  which  no  fear  and  no  want  can  befall 
me;  then  I  shall  make  the  House  of  Truth  a  long 
visit.  Why,  then,  should  I  take  care  for  that  which 
decays  and  falls  into  ruins?  Let  others  foul  their 
watering-places ;  I  will  keep  my  camels  ready  to  slay 
for  the  guest.'" ^ 

We  have  heard  so  much  of  Moslem  fatalism  that  we 
are  accustomed  to  ascribe  this  doctrine  to  Mohammed. 
But  this  extract  shows  that  it  was  already  current 
before  his  time.  Not  unlikely  the  popular  idea  of  it 
is  derived  from  later  literature.  You  remember  the 
story  of  Ajeeb  in  "A  Thousand  and  One  Nights." 
Ajeeb  was  shipwrecked  on  an  uninhabited  island. 
Seeing  a  boat  approach,  he  screened  himself  from 
observation  and  watched.  He  saw  a  party  land  and 
enter  a  subterranean  dwelling,  prepared  with  great 
care.  There  they  left  a  young  man  and  departed, 
concealing  the  only  door  to  the  hiding-place.  The 
young  man  is  one  for  whom  an  astrologer  has  pre- 
*  Wellhausen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarheiien,  III.,  p.  195. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  135 

dieted  death  at  the  hands  of  Ajeeb  on  a  day  cer- 
tain— now  near  at  hand.  The  father  takes  this  means 
of  protecting  his  son.  But  fate  is  inexorable.  Against 
his  own  will,  Ajeeb  strikes  the  fatal  blow  and  the 
prophecy  is  fulfilled  to  the  letter.  As  the  writer  says 
in  an  apt  quotation  : 

**We  trod  the  steps  appointed  for  us  :  and  the  man  whose 
steps  are  appointed  must  tread  them. 
He  whose  death  is  decreed  to  take  place  in  a  certain  land, 
will  not  die  in  any  land  but  that."  * 

More  impressive  perhaps,  and  preserving  more  of  the 
primitive  sense  of  that  Destiny  which  broods  over 
the  world,  are  such  stories  as  that  of  the  City  of  Brass. 
The  traveller  through  the  desert  sees  in  the  distance 
a  lofty  city  wall.  He  approaches  it,  but  meets  no 
living  being.  He  enters  its  streets  and  walks  through 
its  palaces.  Spacious  halls  open  before  him,  shaded 
courts,  lofty  pavilions.  But  all  are  empty.  If  the 
inhabitants  can  be  said  to  exist,  they  exist  only  in  the 
form  of  statues,  having  been  turned  into  stone  by  an 
inexorable  decree.  And  the  visitor  fails  not  to  find  a 
tablet  graven  with  an  admonition  which  recites  the 
shortness  of  life,  the  vanity  of  worldly  pomp  and 
pleasure,  and  the  certainty  of  fate.  He  reads  and  is 
overcome  by  emotion.  He  bursts  into  tears  or  falls 
in  a  swoon.  And  when  he  recovers,  he  goes  forth  in 
sadness  reflecting  on  the  lot  of  man.t 

What  I  am  trying  to  show  is  that  the   fatalistic 

♦Lane,  A  Thousand  and  One  Nights  (1877),  I.,  p.  13G;  Beirut 
edition  of  the  text,  I.,  p.  42. 
t  Ibid.,  III.,  p.  lO'J  ff. 


136  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

doctrine  of  which  we  now  speak  runs  through  Arab 
literature.     It  is  found  in  the  early  poets  ;  it  is  found 
in  the  later  story-tellers.     The  latter  are,  to  be  sure, 
influenced  by  the  theologians,  and  these  claim  to  rep- 
resent the  mind  of  Mohammed.     But  we  must  not 
too  readily  assume  that  they  correctly  represent  the 
mind  of  Mohammed.     It  is  not  impossible  that  they 
are  under  a  bias.     In  Islam,  as  in  other  religions,  the 
fiercest  battles  have  been  fought  over  this  very  ques- 
tion of  predestination  and  freedom.     The  two  ele- 
ments of  the  problem  being  really  irreconcilable,  two 
parties  arose,  according  as  one  factor  or  the  other 
was  emphasized.     When  Greek  philosophy  was  made 
known  to  Moslem  thinkers  under  the  Abbaside  Ca- 
liphs,  there   came   into   prominence   a   rationalistic 
school  of  theologians  called  the  Motazilites,  that  is  : 
the  Seceders.     We  are  not  here  concerned  with  their 
theology  in  general.     The  point  which  interests  us  is 
that  they  denied  an  absolute  decree  or  predestination 
on  the  part  of  God.     They  did  this  with  the  desire 
to  protect  the  responsibility  of  man  as  a  free  agent, 
and  also  wdth  the  desire  to  establish  the  justice  of 
God.     For  they  reasoned  that,  if  the  actions  of  man 
are  done  in  accordance  with  an  unalterable  decree, 
there  is  no  justice  in  punishing.     They  call  them- 
selves therefore  believers  in  the  Unity  and  Justice  of 
God.     Their  teaching  on  this  point  is  set  forth  by  a 
native  authority  *  in  these  words  :  *'  They  affirm  that 
man  has  freedom  and  that  he  is  the  originator  of  his 
actions,  both  good  and  bad,  and  that  he  is  therefore  a 

*  Schahrastani's     Religionspartheien    und     Fhilosophenschulen, 
iibersetzt  von  Dr.  Tli.  Haarbriicker  (1850),  L,  p.  43. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  137 

being  who  deserves  reward  and  punishment  in  the 
next  world  for  what  he  has  done.  But  [they  affirm] 
that  God  cannot  be  brought  into  connection  with  evil 
and  unrighteousness  and  unbelief  and  disobedience 
[as  their  cause].  For  as  He  is  righteous  when 
He  brings  forth  righteousness,  so  He  would  be  un- 
righteous if  He  were  the  cause  of  unrighteousness." 
So  far  the  Motazilites.  Their  opponents  took  their 
stand  on  the  divine  omnipotence  and  did  not  shrink 
from  the  conclusion  that  God  is  the  author  of  sin, 
and  that  man  has  no  power  over  his  own  acts."^  Al- 
though the  school  which  finally  prevailed  tried  to 
mediate,  its  members  rescued  for  man  only  the  sem- 
blance of  freedom.  The  accepted  IMohammedan  the- 
ology is  undoubtedly  deterministic. 

For  this  reason  we  must  look  with  suspicion  on 
some  of  the  traditions  which  ascribe  to  Mohammed 
high  predestinarianism.  "We  have  already  found 
reason  to  believe  that  traditions  were  invented  by  the 
adherents  of  the  different  theological  schools,  in  order 
to  secure  the  Prophet's  name  lor  their  doctrine.  One 
such  tradition,  as  I  believe,  has  done  much  to  form 
our  idea  of  IVIoslem  fatalism.  It  is  the  one  given  by 
Palgrave  in  these  words :  "  When  God  resolved  to 
create  the  human  race.  He  took  into  His  hands  a  mass 
of  earth — the  same  whence  all  mankind  were  to  be 
formed,  and  in  which  they  after  a  manner  pre-existed. 
Having  divided  the  clod  into  two  parts.  He  threw  the 
one-half  into  hell  and  said :  These  to  eternal  fire  and 
I  care  not;  and  projected  the  other  half  into  heaven, 

*  Schahrastani,  I.,  pp  92,  102.  Dugat,  Ilisioire  des  Philosophes 
et  des  Thiologiens  Musulnians  (1878),  p.  45. 


138  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

adding:  These  to  Paradise  and  I  care  not."  *  So  far 
as  tins  tradition  makes  the  impression  of  brutal 
indifference  on  the  part  of  God,  we  need  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  it  misrepresents  the  mind  of  Mohammed. 
The  impression  made  by  the  whole  body  of  traditions 
on  this  subject  is  very  different.  Even  the  one  which 
is  nearest  in  form  to  the  one  just  quoted,  and  which 
may  be  a  modification  of  the  same  tradition,  has  a 
different  tone  :  "  God  created  Adam  and  struck  him 
on  the  right  side  and  brought  out  white  children — 
you  would  say  they  were  pearls  ;  then  He  struck  his 
left  side  and  brought  out  black  children,  you  would 
say  they  were  coals.  Then  God  said  :  Those  of  the 
right  side  are  towards  Paradise,  and  I  have  no  fear ; 
and  He  said  of  those  of  the  left  side  :  They  are  tow- 
ards hell  and  I  have  no  fear."  |  The  words  trans- 
lated /  have  no  fear  may  indeed  mean  /  have  no  con- 
cern  in  the  matter.  But  they  may  mean  also  :  I  have 
no  fear  that  their  actions  will  not  bear  out  what  I 
have  determined  concerning  them.  This  latter  is  at 
least  a  plausible  interpretation,  as  we  see  from  another 
tradition,  which  is  given  in  immediate  connection 
with  the  foregoing,  and  which  is  reported  thus  :  "  God 
took  an  engagement  from  the  family  of  Adam,  and 
brought  out  a  family  from  the  back  of  Adam  and  scat- 
tered them  before  Him.  After  that  God  spoke  to 
them  in  his  presence  saying  :  Am  not  I  your  Creator? 
They  said  :  Yes,  we  bear  witness  to  Thy  Godhead — 

*  I  have  cited  from  Hughes's  Dictionary  of  Islam^  p.  148,  where 
the  passage  is  ascribed  to  Palgrave,  who  gives  the  reference,  Mish- 
cat^  Bab-ul-Qadr.     I  do  not  find  the  tradition  in  the  English  Mislicat. 

f  3Iishcatf  1.,  P-  3G. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  139 

that  they  might  not  plead  ignorance  on  the  Day  of  Res- 
urrection." This  tradition  is  quite  opposed  to  the 
doctrine  of  arbitrary  election.  The  evident  endeavor 
is  to  supply  a  reason  for  men's  final  sentence.  The 
reason  why  the  unbelievers  are  condemned  is  that 
they  have  acted  contrary  to  the  profession  which  they 
made  in  their  pre-existent  state — hence  God  can 
justly  punish  them  for  apostasy.  This  tradition  is 
moreover  almost  identical  with  a  Koran  verse  :  "  God 
took  the  descendants  of  the  sons  of  Adam  from  their 
backs,  and  made  them  testify  against  themselvefe  : 
Am  not  I  your  Lord  ?  They  replied  :  Yea,  we  testify. 
This  was  that  you  might  not  say  at  the  Resm-rection : 
We  were  forgetful  in  this  matter,  or  should  say :  It 
was  only  that  our  fathers  were  idolaters  aforetime  and 
we  are  their  posterity ;  wilt  Tliou  destroy  us  for  what 
the  liars  have  done  ? "  *  We  may  also  cite  here 
another  tradition  :  "  Mohammed  was  asked  about  the 
children  of  idolaters,  whether  they  would  go  to  heaven 
or  hell.  He  replied  :  God  knows  best  what  their  ac- 
tions would  have  been ;  it  depends  upon  this."  In 
another  place  he  says  that  infants  are  born  with  nat- 
ural religion ;  their  parents  give  them  the  special  tm'n 
of  Jew  or  Christian,  t  Once  more  we  are  told  that 
when  a  believer  is  examined  after  death,  he  is  sho^ii 
the  place  prepared  for  him  in  the  Fire,  which  God 
has  exchanged  for  a  seat  in  Paradise.  Here  is  no 
absolute  predestination,  but  provision  for  a  double 
possibility,  the  final  decision  depending  on  the  ac- 
tions of  the  individual. 

Mohammed,  according   to   these   indications,  was 

♦Koran  7'"  ^  +  Bochari^  II.,  p.  95. 


140  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

not  wh^-t  we  should  call  a  fatalist.  In  fact,  he  was 
not  a  systematic  theologian.  He  knew  nothing  of 
philosophy,  and  the  endeavor  to  teach  it  to  him  would 
probably  have  failed.  But  he  was  a  man  of  religious 
conviction.  His  statements  on  the  doctrine  before 
vis  are  to  be  interpreted  by  his  religious,  not  by  any 
dogmatic,  faith.  All  of  us  who  have  a  living  faith  in 
a  living  God  accept  His  sovereignty  over  the  universe. 
So  far  as  this  is  in  us,  we  interpret  the  experience 
of  our  daily  lives  in  conformity  with  His  rule  over 
the  universe.  Our  comfort  in  adversity  is  that  our 
Father  does  all  things  well,  and  our  joy  in  prosperity 
springs  from  the  thought  that  it  is  He  who  is  active 
in  providing  for  our  wants.  The  religious  leader  en- 
courages and  comforts  his  followers  by  this  faith.  If 
they  lose  heart,  he  points  them  to  God  who  is  able  to 
help,  and  who  surely  will  not  abandon  the  right.  If 
they  meet  misfortune,  he  gives  them  the  assurance 
that  even  this  is  in  God's  plan  for  them.  When  they 
are  successful  he  makes  the  success  confirm  their  faith 
that  God  is  working  for  them.  In  all  this,  emphasis 
is  naturally  laid  upon  the  almighty  power  and  the  all- 
determining  will  of  God.  Mohammed's  declarations, 
on  this  point  are  to  be  explained  along  these  lines. 
They  are  not  philosophical  propositions  concerning 
the  universal  scheme  of  things.  They  are  the  ap- 
plication of  a  living  faith  to  the  particular  circum- 
stances of  an  individual  experience.  When  his  situ- 
ation was  gloomy  or  even  (to  human  eye)  desperate, 
he  was  compelled  to  take  strong  hold  on  the  power 
and  grace  of  God.  He  says :  "  Every  condition  is 
best  for  the  believer.     ...     If  he  is  pleased,  he 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  141 

thanks  God ;  and  if  his  condition  is  bad  he  has  pa- 
tience, for  which  he  is  rewarded."  This  is  not  the 
statement  of  a  theory  of  the  universe.  It  is  an  ex- 
pression of  religious  trust,  a  trust  which  traces  one's 
individual  lot  to  the  goodness  of  God.  It  reminds 
us  of  the  Biblical  assertion  that  all  things  work  to- 
gether for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  to  them  who 
are  the  called  according  to  His  purpose."^  Again  we 
read  in  a  tradition  :  "  Seek  for  that  which  will  benefit 
you,  and  ask  God  for  assistance,  and  do  not  tire  in  so 
doing ;  and  if  any  misfortune  befalls  you  do  not  say : 
If  I  had  done  so  and  so ;  but  say :  God  ordained  it, 
and  He  does  what  He  will — because  the  word  if  opens 
the  Devil's  business."  t  This  was  a  practical  philos- 
ophy of  human  life.  It  was  not  intended  to  be  a  spec- 
ulative reconciliation  of  sovereignty  and  freedom. 

If  the  speculative  question  was  ever  forced  upon 
Mohammed,  he  probably  declined  to  answer  it.  He 
came  once  upon  a  company  engaged  in  debating  about 
fate  ;  and  he  became  angry,  so  that  he  was  red  in  the 
face,  and  said  :  "Has  God  ordered  you  to  debate  of 
fate,  or  was  I  sent  to  3^ou  for  this  ?  Your  forefathers 
were  destroyed  for  debating  about  fate  and  destiny. 
I  adjure  you  not  to  argue  on  these  points."  %  This 
tradition  seems  to  me  much  less  likely  to  have  been 
invented  than  some  of  the  others  we  have  been  con- 
sidering, and  it  therefore  seems  to  me  more  nearly  to 
represent  the  mind  of  the  Prophet.  He  had  no  idea 
of  laying  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  decrees  the 
emphasis  which  was  afterward  laid  upon  it  by  the 
dogmatic  theologians.     We  shall  bear  this  in  mind  in 

*Rora.  8-8.  t  Mishcai,  II.,  p.  517.  %  Ibid.,  I.,  p.  31. 


142  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

examining  the  statements  of  the  Koran — and  tlie 
Koran  is  here,  as  elsewhere,  our  most  valuable  source. 
At  the  beginning  of  his  mission  the  mind  of  Mo- 
hammed was  occupied  with  the  great  thought  of  the 
Day  of  Judgment.  Nearly  all  the  earliest  suras  dwell 
upon  this  subject.  The  terrors  which  usher  in  the 
Day  are  described  with  great  variety  of  imagery,  and 
these  descriptions  are  followed  by  a  picture  of  Para- 
dise with  its  bliss,  or  of  Gehenna  with  its  torments. 
The  implication  of  this  whole  series  of  revelations  is 
that  man  is  responsible.  He  is  punished  or  rewarded 
for  his  actions,  and  these  (we  may  conclude)  are  within 
his  own  power.  The  terms  in  which  the  evil-doers  are 
described  generally  express  an  activity.  When  the 
angels  say  that  they  are  sent  against  a  people  of  evil- 
doers, we  notice  that  it  is  an  active  participle  of  the 
most  active  form  of  the  verb  that  is  used.  The  same 
people  are  described  a  little  later  on  as  transgressors 
— those  who  pass  beyond  the  due  bounds.  Thamud 
turned  ivith  disdain  from  the  commandment  of  their 
Lord ;  Pharaoh,  and  before  him,  the  people  of  the 
cities  which  were  overturned  for  their  sin,  disobeyed 
the  messenger  of  their  Lord.^  He  who  receives  his 
book  in  his  left  hand  at  the  Judgment  has  his  indict- 
ment formulated  in  these  terms  :  "  He  did  not  be- 
lieve in  God  Most  High,  nor  did  he  emulate  others 
in  feeding  the  poor."  f  It  agrees  with  these  words 
of  action  that  jinn  and  men  are  created  only  to  serve 
God  but  that  they  disobeyed,  f  Man  was  created  up- 
right, therefore,  but  sought  out  many  inventions. 
Even  where  it  is  said  that  man  was  created  with  nat- 

*  Koran  Sl^i-  34.  44.  69».  73^6.  .j.  g9"^  f.  %  51'^ 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  143 

ural  infirmities,  it  is  implied  that  these  do  not  inter- 
fere with  his  responsibility.  The  plain  and  obvious 
interpretation  of  these  passages  is  in  line  with  the 
declaration  of  Ezekiel,  who  rejected  with  indignation 
the  thought  that  the  children  are  punished  for  the 
sins  of  the  parents,  and  who  proclaimed  with  all  his 
energy :  The  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die. 

"We  find  it  distinctly  asserted  in  a  second  group  of 
passages,  that  recompense  is  according  to  works  : 
"  Those  who  believe  and  do  good  works  receive  an 
unstinted  reward  " — "  these  receive  a  garden  in  which 
the  streams  flow  perennially."  "^  This  is  set  forth  fig- 
uratively in  the  words  :  "  He  whose  scale  is  heavy  shall 
have  a  life  of  delight,  but  he  whose  scale  is  light, 
his  dwelling  is  the  abyss."  "  On  that  day  a  man 
shall  be  told  what  he  brought  forward  and  what  he 
kept  back — yea  a  man  shall  be  witness  against  him- 
self, though  he  proffer  his  excuses,  "f  "Whether  there 
is  a  specific  reference  here  to  sins  of  commission  and 
sins  of  omission  as  is  sometimes  supposed,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  the  enumeration  of  sins  is  in  order 
to  a  proportionate  punishment.  Those  who  are  con- 
demned will  know  that  it  is  because  of  what  they 
have  done  :  "  Every  soul  is  a  pledge  for  what  it  has 
gained — but  the  men  of  the  right  hand  when  in  the 
garden  shall  ask  the  evil-doers  :  What  thrust  you  into 
the  Fire  ?  They  will  reply  :  We  were  not  in  the 
habit  of  prayer  and  we  did  not  feed  the  poor,  and  we 
used  to  enter  into  idle  discourse  with  the  vain  talkers, 
and  we  used  to  deny  the  coming  of  the  Judgment 
Day."  X  Quite  in  accord  with  this  is  the  following  ; 
*  8425,  85".  t  lOP  •■,  75'3  f.  J74'if'. 


144  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

"  Has  [the  unbeliever]  not  been  told  of  what  is  in 
the  rolls  of  Moses  and  of  Abraham,  who  was  faithful, 
namely  :  that  no  soul  is  burdened  with  the  burden  of 
another,  and  that  a  man  receives  only  that  which  ho 
has  wrought,  and  that  he  shall  certainly  be  shown  his 
work  ?  Then  shall  he  be  recompensed  with  a  com- 
plete recompense."  "*  As  Mohammed  professes  to 
quote  here  from  the  earlier  Scriptures  we  may  look 
for  a  Biblical  reminiscence.  And  we  find  a  close 
parallel  in  a  New  Testament  passage  which  declares 
that  each  man  shall  hear  his  oion  burden^  and  in  that 
connection  we  read :  "  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that 
shall  he  also  reap." 

The  same  doctrine  is  virtually  contained  in  the  fre- 
quent exhortations  to  repent  which  we  find  in  this 
early  period.  There  have  been  preachers  who  called 
men  to  repentance,  though  convinced  that  men  had 
no  ability  to  follow  the  call.  But  we  must  remember 
that  Mohammed  had  no  theological  training.  With 
him  the  natural  supposition  is  that  when  he  called 
men  to  turn  from  their  evil  ways,  they  had  some 
power  of  choice  in  the  matter.  So  we  interpret  the 
questions  addressed  to  the  unhappy  inhabitants  of 
hell — '*  Why  did  you  not  believe  ?  "  or,  "  Why  did  you 
not  reflect?"  or  again,  "Why  were  you  not  grate- 
ful ?  "  f  Even  Pharaoh  has  the  possibility  of  re2:)ent- 
ance,  for  Moses  says  to  him :  "  Wilt  thou  purify  thy- 
self, that  I  may  direct  thee  to  thy  Lord  and  thou  shalt 
fear  Him  ?  "  :[:  It  is  to  the  same  effect  when  we  find 
two  alternatives  set  before  man,  that  he  may  make  a 
choice  :  "  We  led  him  to  the  two  roads,  but  he  does 

*  53=^  ff,  cf.  Gal.  65-  ■>.  f  ^G^^-  *^2'  «9.  %  79'^ 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  145 

not  climb  the  ascent.  How  wilt  thou  know  what  is 
the  ascent  ?  It  is  the  setting  free  of  the  slave,  and  tho 
nourishment  of  one's  orphan  kinsmen  in  the  day  of 
famine,  or  the  feeding  of  the  poor  who  cleaves  to  the 
dust."  ^ 

If  at  this  period  of  his  activity  the  Prophet  had 
had  the  doctrine  of  absolute  predestination  in  mind, 
it  is  probable  that  he  would  have  asserted  it  in  con- 
nection with  some  of  these  passages.  But  he  does 
not  assert  it,  even  in  expressing  his  idea  of  God's 
method  of  working.  What  we  find  emphasized  is 
not  God's  decree,  but  His  knowledge :  "  Does  not  the 
unbeliever  know  that  God  sees  ?  " — "  Doth  he  not 
know  that  when  what  is  in  the  graves  comes  forth 
and  what  is  in  the  breasts  is  brought  to  light,  in  that 
day  their  Lord  will  be  informed  concerning  them  ?  "  f 
Another  expression  of  the  same  thing  is  the  figure  of 
the  heavenly  book.  There  are  passages  in  which  this 
is  apparently  the  book  of  fate,  but  these  are  later. 
The  primary  conception  was  of  a  book  of  record.  It 
is  said  of  the  one  who  receives  his  book  behind  his 
back :  "  He  thought  indeed  that  he  would  not  be  put 
to  grief  ;  but  his  Lord  was  observant  of  him."  This 
record  is  made  by  the  angels  :  '*  And  verily  there  are 
over  you  guardians,  holy  scribes  who  know  what  you 
do."  X  In  a  passage  which  probably  refers  to  the  ac- 
tions of  men,  God  says :  "  They  indeed  did  not  fear 
an  accounting,  and  accused  Our  revelation  of  false- 
hood. But  we  registered  everything  in  a  book.  Taste 
then !  We  Avill  only  increase  your  punishment."  § 
To  the  same  effect  are  the  passages  already  alluded 

*  90'o-»«.  t  OG'-*  and  100'  *f.  X  W^  \  82'".  §  78-8  if. 

10 


146  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to,  in  which  God  is  said  to  try  men.  For  this  period 
further,  the  assertion  that  God  directs  men  does  not 
mean  that  He  exerts  irresistible  grace.  The  verb  is 
used  of  one  who  puts  travellers  in  the  desert  on  the 
right  path.  He  points  out  the  road,  as  Moses  pointed 
it  out  to  Pharaoh.  It  does  not  follow  that  the  direc- 
tion will  be  effectual.  In  the  early  revelations,  which 
we  are  now  considering,  God  is  not  said  to  lead  men 
astray.  Ho  knows  those  who  go  astray  and  He 
knows  those  who  let  themselves  be  guided,^  is  the 
utmost  that  is  affirmed. 

As  we  turn  to  the  later  sections  of  the  Koran  we 
notice  first,  that  the  view  we  have  been  considering 
is  still  affirmed :  "  Observe  prayer  and  give  alms  ; 
whatever  good  you  lay  up  in  store  for  yourselves  you 
shall  find  in  the  presence  of  God."  f  The  verse  re- 
minds us  of  the  New  Testament  exhortation  to  lay  up 
treasures  in  heaven.  *'0,  you  who  believe,  you  have 
the  care  of  your  own  souls ;  do  yourselves  no  harm  ! 
Whoever  goes  astray  after  you  have  been  rightly 
guided — you  shall  all  be  brought  to  God  and  He  will 
inform  you  of  your  actions."  %  The  doctrine  of  rec- 
ompense is  here  sharply  asserted,  and  it  is  assumed 
that  there  is  a  possibility  of  going  astray  even  after 

*  68\  There  is  an  apparent  exception  to  this  statement  in  74'^ 
where  God  is  said  actively  to  lead  astray.  But  this  is  an  interpola- 
tion of  a  later  date.  In  another  instance  (9P>  ^)  as  commonly  in- 
terpreted, God  is  said  to  create  the  soul  and  inspire  it  with  evil  and 
with  good.  But  as  the  word  translated  inspii'ed  may  also  mean 
taught^  it  is  safer  to  suppose  that  the  verse  is  no  exception  to  the 
consensus  of  these  early  suras  ;  and  that  the  meaning  is  simply  that 
God  gives  the  soul  a  knowledge  of  good  and  evil. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  147 

once  being  guided  into  the  right  path.  Again  we 
hear :  "  O,  Men,  the  truth  has  come  to  you  from  your 
Lord  ;  whoever  lets  himself  be  guided  does  so  to 
his  own  benefit,  and  whoever  goes  astray  does  so 
to  his  own  hurt."  ^'  That  God  is  a  ready  reckoner 
is  frequently  affirmed  and  also  that  He  is  just — 
not  wronging  one  "  even  to  the  snapping  of  the  fin- 
gers."t  God  tests  men  moreover,  and  He  puts  their 
actions  upon  record  just  as  was  affirmed  in  the  ear- 
lier period,  t 

But  in  this  later  period  we  find  a  distinctly  more 
pronounced  theory  that  God's  activity  extends  even 
into  the  sphere  of  human  choice.  We  can  see  to  a 
certain  extent  how  this  problem  became  more  com- 
plex as  the  Prophet  advanced  in  his  career.  At  first 
he  was  controlled  by  the  great  thought  of  the  Judg- 
ment and  its  near  approach.  This  thought  and  the 
consequent  duty  of  warning  men,  absorbed  him.  For 
the  world  about  him,  he  assumed  one  simple  thing — 
that  every  one  should  repent  and  accept  his  message. 
But  as  time  went  on,  he  was  perplexed  not  only  by 
the  delay  of  the  Judgment — he  never  claimed  to  know 
its  exact  date — but  by  the  obstinacy  of  the  unbe- 
lievers. A  few  men  recognized  his  mission — enough 
to  show  that  there  was  something  in  his  message.  But 
the  majority  were  rendered  apparently  more  obstinate, 
for  they  passed  from  simple  indifference  to  active 
hostilit3^  The  problem  of  the  divine  will  and  the 
human  will  assumed  a  practical  meaning.  It  was 
now  a  question  whether  God  could  allow  His  designs 
to  be  thwarted.     The  little  communion  of  Moslems 

*10'o«.  t4'".  J  29^,  5452. 


148  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

looked  to  their  Propliet  to  answer  tliem  this  question. 
For  their  relief  and  to  strengthen  his  own  soul,  he 
was  compelled  to  assert  that  even  the  evil  actions, 
unbelief,  and  persecutions,  of  the  wicked  are  within 
the  plan  of  God. 

This  ground  was  apparently  taken  even  at  Mecca. 
The  experience  at  Medina  only  fortified  the  position. 
For  at  Medina  an  infant  state  was  struggling  into  ex- 
istence. The  little  community  had  frequent  occasion 
to  realize  that  God's  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.  Some- 
times, indeed.  His  care  was  notably  manifest.  But 
quite  as  often  the  expectations  of  the  belieyers  were 
disappointed.  They  were  visited  by  fever ;  they  suf- 
fered from  famine;  they  were  disappointed  by  the 
lukewarmness  or  even  hostility  of  some  in  whom  they 
trusted.  The  Jews  were  a  thorn  in  their  side.  In- 
stead of  becoming  converts  or,  at  least,  allies  of  the 
Prophet,  they  plotted  against  him,  murmured  at  his 
claims,  insinuated  doubts  of  his  mission,  and  provoked 
his  followers  to  break  the  peace.  It  is  evident  that 
the  problem  of  the  universe  was  becoming  more  com- 
plicated. 

We  are  able  to  trace  the  working  of  the  Prophet's 
mind  on  one  phase  of  this  problem  with  considerable 
distinctness.  In  the  second  ^^ear  after  the  Flight  he 
fought  a  successful  battle  against  the  Meccans  at  a 
place  called  Bedr.  As  the  first  pitched  battle  of 
Islam,  this  encounter  deserves  a  place  among  the  de- 
cisive battles  of  the  world ;  for  had  the  Moslems  been 
defeated  it  is  not  unlikely  that  their  movement  would 
have  ceased  to  be  important ;  and  in  this  case  the 
face  of  the  world's  history  would  have  been  entirely 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  149 

changed.  The  victory  was  tlie  more  remarkable,  in 
that  Mohammed  had  only  three  hundred  men  against 
nine  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Meccans.  The  decisive 
victory  was  taken  at  Medina  to  be  a  pledge  of  God's 
presence  and  approval,  and  at  the  same  time  as  a 
foretaste  of  His  judgment  on  His  enemies.  The  eye 
of  faith  even  saw  the  angels  engage  in  the  battle  on 
the  side  of  truth,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  no  ques- 
tions were  raised  when  the  Prophet  used  the  event  as 
an  illustration  of  God's  will  toward  the  believers. 

The  difficulty  came  when,  a  year  later  at  Ohod,  the 
Moslems  suffered  a  humiliating  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
the  same  foe,  upon  which  they  had  seen  the  ven- 
geance of  God  take  effect  at  Bedr.  On  human  rea- 
soning, indeed,  the  defeat  was  easily  accounted  for. 
The  Moslems  were  overconfident.  They  disregarded 
the  advice  of  the  wiser  heads,  and,  instead  of  acting 
on  the  defensive,  ruslied  to  the  conflict  against  large 
odds."^  At  the  first  appearance  of  success,  the  archers 
posted  by  Mohammed  to  defend  his  left  flank  de- 
serted their  station  in  the  hope  of  booty.  All  this 
makes  us  wonder  that  the  defeat  was  not  more  com- 
plete than  it  actually  was.  But,  in  any  case,  it  was 
a  bitter  experience  to  men  who  had  counted  on  the 
continued  favor  of  God.  It  became  necessary  for 
Mohammed  to  explain  the  ways  of  God  and  this  he 
does,  as  follows  :  "  If  you  suffer  from  wounds,  so  have 
other  peoples  suffered  from  the  like  ;  and  We  make 
the  fortune  of  men  in  battle  vary,  that  God  may  know 
those   who   believe   and   may  take    from   you   wit- 

*  Seven  hundred  Moslems  against  three  thousand  Meccans,  the 
latter  also  better  armed. 


150  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

nesses  *  (God  loves  not  the  evil-doers) ;  and  that  God 
may  try  those  who  believe,  and  may  destroy  the  unbe- 
lievers. Or  do  you  think  to  enter  Paradise  before 
God  knows  those  of  you  who  are  zealous  and  stead- 
fast ?  .  .  .  A  soul  does  not  die  except  by  the 
permission  of  God  [contained  in]  a  definite  decree."  f 
The  speaker  then  points  out  that  God  is  faithful  to 
His  promise,  but  that  the  believers  had  been  seduced 
by  the  booty  and  had  disobeyed  their  leader.  He 
then  adds  :  "  Their  desires  mislead  them  to  think  un- 
justly of  God — thoughts  of  heathenism — in  that  they 
said  :  Have  we  any  part  in  this  affair  ?  Say  to  them  : 
The  w^hole  belongs  to  God.  They  conceal  in  their 
hearts  what  they  do  not  reveal  to  thee,  saying :  If  we 
had  had  our  way  in  the  matter  we  [that  is,  our  breth- 
ren] had  not  been  slain  here.  Say  :  Had  ye  remained 
in  your  houses,  yet  those  whose  death  was  decreed 
would  have  gone  forth  to  the  places  where  they  lie, 
that  God  might  search  what  is  in  your  breasts  and 
might  try  what  is  in  your  hearts.  God  knoAvs  what 
is  in  the  breasts  of  men.  As  for  those  who  turned 
back  on  the  day  of  encounter,  Satan  made  them  slip 
for  something  which  they  had  done.  But  God  has 
pardoned  them — God  is  forgiving  and  forbearing.  O 
Believers !  Be  not  like  the  unbelievers,  who  say  con- 
cerning their  brethren,  when  they  travel  or  are  on  a 
raid :  If  they  had  remained  with  us  they  had  not 
died,  or  they  had  not  been  slain.  [This  came  to  pass] 
that   God  might   place   grief   in  their  hearts — God 

♦  Or,  martyrs  as  it  is  ordinarily  translated.     Those  who  die  in 
battle  are  especially  distinguished. 

4.  3134.139^ 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  151 

givetli  life  or  giveth  death,  and  God  knows  what  you 
do."  *  Making  allowance  for  a  little  incoherence,  we 
find  here  a  full  statement  of  the  later  position  of  Mo- 
hammed, a  position  which  we  may  summarize  under 
two  heads. 

1.  All  comes  to  pass  by  the  decree  of  God.     He 
has  ordained  even  the  defeat  of  the  believers,  as  He 
inflicted  similar  defeat  upon  other  generations  :  "  How 
many  a  prophet  has  there  been  with  whom  many 
thousands  have  fought,  yet  they  did  not  faint  at  what 
came  upon  them  in  the  cause  of  God,  nor  did  they 
grow  weak  nor  submit — God  loves  the  persevering. 
Their  only  word  was  :  Our  Lord,  forgive  our  sins  and 
our   transgressions  in   the  cause   committed  to  us; 
establish  our  footsteps  and  help  us  against  the  unbe- 
lievers." t    'i'he  old  point  of  view,  that  this  is  for  the 
purpose  of  testing  believers,  is  still  held,  but  new 
points  of  view  are  opened.     The  decree  is  made  more 
absolute.     It  sets  the  term  of  a  man's  life,  so  that  he 
will  go  to  meet  death  at  the  appointed  time,  no  mat- 
ter what  efforts  are  made  to  detain  him.     Other  men 
might  have  remained  at  home  on  the  day  of  Ohod, 
but  those  whose  death  was  decreed  would  have  gone 
forth  to  the  field  of  death  in  spite  of  all.    So  we  find  in 
other  places  :  "  Death  will  overtake  you,  even  though 
you  be  in  lofty  fortresses."     The  book  of  record  now 
becomes  a  book  of  fate:  ''None  receives  long  life, 
and  the  life  of  no  one  is  cut  short,  except  it  is  [re- 
corded] in  a  book."  % 

2.  AYe   find  more  distinctly  afiirmed  that  God  is 
active  in  the  unbelief  of  man.     He  now  leads  some 

♦  3i4ajt;  •f-3'i"f.  t4^°,  35'*. 


152  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

astray,  as  well  as  leads  some  into  the  right  path. 
As  we  had  reason  to  suppose  that  His  guidance  is 
simply  the  pointing  out  of  the  right  path,  in  which 
men  are  free  to  walk  or  not,  we  might  also  think  that 
even  if  He  presents  misleading  indications,  men  have 
the  ability  to  disregard  these  and  still  to  find  the 
right  path.  But  the  weakness  of  man  is  such  that 
when  God  misleads  him  he  is  sure  to  go  wrong.  In 
such  a  case  there  is  no  hope  of  the  man,  he  is  irrevo- 
cably lost.  Such  is  evidently  the  teaching  of  the 
Koran  in  the  period  we  have  now  reached.  "  If  thy 
Lord  had  willed,  all  that  are  in  the  earth  would  have 
believed.  Wilt  thou  then  force  men  to  believe  ?  It 
is  not  possible  for  a  soul  to  believe  except  by  permis- 
sion of  its  Lord."  "  God  leads  astray  whom  He  will 
and  leads  aright  whom  He  will ;  He  is  the  Powerful, 
the  Wise."  "  Whom  God  leads  astray,  for  him  thou 
wilt  not  find  a  road."  "  And  why  should  you  be  di- 
vided concerning  the  hypocrites,  when  God  has  over- 
turned them  on  account  of  what  they  have  done  ? 
Wilt  thou  direct  those  whom  God  has  led  astray  ?  "  * 
Yet,  although  the  action  of  God  may  be  supposed  to 
be  irresistible  in  such  cases,  we  find  a  certain  syner- 
gism (to  use  a  theological  term)  allowed.  Man  co-oper- 
ates in  his  own  salvation,  and  man  also  has  part  in 
his  own  destruction.  God  conducts  to  Himself  Mm 
who  rejjents,']'  but  the  wicked  are  not  directed  because 
they  will  not  be  :  "  Hovv^  shall  God  guide  aright  a 

*  lO^s  f^  144^  4142.  90^  cf .  76^9  ',  ''  Whoever  will,  let  him  take  the 
path  to  his  Lord ;  but  ye  will  not  unless  God  wills,"  and  Jno.  12^^ : 
"  Therefore  they  could  not  believe." 

t  42'-^. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  153 

people  who  disbelieve  after  once  believing  and  testi- 
fying that  the  Apostle  is  true,  when  [also]  evident 
proofs  have  come  to  them  ?  God  will  not  guide  the 
people  who  do  evil."* 

On  this  last  point  we  find  a  variety  of  statements. 
In  some  cases  men  are  said  to  be  blinded  by  the  se- 
ductions of  the  world :  "  Cease  from  those  who  use 
their  religion  as  a  sport  and  a  pastime,  whom  the  life 
of  the  world  has  beguiled ;  and  remind  them  that  a 
soul  is  corrupted  by  what  it  has  acquired."  f  But 
this  life  of  the  world  is  ordained  of  God  for  this  pur- 
pose. Moses  prays  thus  :  "  O  Lord,  Thou  hast  given 
Pharaoh  and  his  nobles  pomp  and  riches  in  this 
world  to  mcike  them  tvander  from  Thy  path ;  Our  Lord, 
destroy  their  riches  and  harden  their  hearts,  that  they 
may  not  believe  until  they  see  exemplary  punish- 
ment." X  In  other  passages  God  is  more  directly  ac- 
tive on  the  hearts  of  the  wicked  :  "  There  are  those 
who  come  to  listen  to  thee,  but  on  whose  hearts  We 
have  placed  veils  lest  they  should  understand,  and  in 
whose  ears  deafness ;  and  if  they  should  see  every 
kind  of  sign  they  would  not  believe  in  it — so  that 
they  would  [even  then]  come  disputing  with  thee  and 
saying:  Yerily  this  is  nought  but  old  wives'  fables." 
"  These  are  they  whose  hearts  and  hearing  and  sight 
God  has  sealed :  they  are  the  heedless  and  without 
doubt  they  shall  be  the  losers  in  the  world  to  come." 
And  again  :  ''  "When  thou  recitest  the  Koran,  We 
place  between  thee  and  those  who  do  not  believe  in 
the  world  to  come,  a  thick  veil,  and  We  have  placed 
on  their  hearts  coverings  that  they  may  not  under- 


154  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

stand,  and  in  their  ears  deafness  ;  and  when  thou 
namest  thy  Lord,  the  Only  One,  in  the  recitation, 
they  turn  away  in  disgust."  *  In  these  and  other  pas- 
sages we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  possibility  that 
God's  activity  is  conceived  of  as  the  infliction  of 
judicial  blindness.  By  the  divine  ordering,  the  man's 
sin  becomes  a  cause  of  further  sin:  "That  which 
they  have  done  has  covered  their  hearts "  we  read  in 
one  place ;  and  again  :  "  We  turn  away  their  hearts 
and  eyes  [from  the  truth]  because  they  do  not  believe 
in  it  at  the  first,  and  We  leave  them  to  wander  about 
in  their  disobedience."  f 

On  the  other  hand,  Satan  is  the  agent  who  brings 
men  into  sin,  though  not  without  the  divine  permis- 
sion. He  himself  was  tried  by  God  and  disobeyed. 
He  then  asked  a  reprieve  from  his  sentence  for  a 
time,  that  he  might  become  the  tempter  of  men.  He 
received  permission  and  began  his  career  with  our 
first  parents  :  "  Satan  made  them  slip  from  Paradise 
and  brought  them  out  from  the  place  where  they 
were."t  And  he  is  still  active  :  "  Those  of  you  who 
turned  their  backs  in  the  day  of  encounter — this  was 
only  because  Satan  caused  them  to  slip,  for  some- 
thing which  they  had  done."  §  The  passage  is  note- 
worthy because  the  new  temptation  was  a  penalty  for 
sin  already  committed.  But  whatever  takes  place, 
all  is  so  thoroughly  in  the  plan  of  God  that  He  is 
said  to  have  created  men  for  this  purpose  :  "If  thy 
Lord  had  willed  He  v/ould  have  made  mankind  one 
people.     But  [as  it  is]  they  will  not  cease  disputing, 

X  234.  §  3149, 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  155 

except  tlie  one  on  whom  thy  Lord  has  mercy.  And 
for  this  He  created  them,  and  the  word  of  thy  Lord 
shall  sarely  bo  accomplished  [to  wit]  :  "  Verily  I  will 
fill  Gehenna  with  men  and  Avith  jinn."  * 

If  what  has  been  said  is  correct,  we  must  admit 
that  Mohammed  held  both  sides  of  the  doctrine  we 
are  considering.  He  had  the  religious  sense  which 
affirms  God's  absolute  sovereignty ;  at  the  same  time 
he  had  the  moral  sense  which  declares  man's  respon- 
sibility for  his  sin  and  the  justice  of  his  punishment. 
The  latter  judgment  w^as  more  prominent  in  his  earlier 
life,  the  other  was  added  to  it  at  a  later  time.  But  at 
no  time  was  he  a  fatalist,  for  we  mean  by  fatalism  the 
assertion  of  God's  activity  to  the  entire  extinction  of 
human  freedom.  Li  holding  on  to  the  two  apparently 
contradictory  propositions,  he  was  in  line  v/ith  most 
religious  leaders — certainly  in  line  with  the  Biblical 
writers.  Every  one  of  the  sentences  quoted  from  the 
Koran  can  be  paralleled  by  a  verse  from  the  Bible. 
The  prophets,  as  preachers  of  righteousness,  empha- 
size the  self-origination  of  the  sinner's  acts.  They 
describe  the  evil-doers  in  the  same  terms  of  activity 
wdiich  we  have  read  in  the  Koran.  Israel  is  "  a  sinning 
nation  .  .  .  children  who  corrupt  their  way ;  they 
have  forsaken  Yahweh,  they  have  rejected  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel,  they  have  estranged  themselves,  turning 
backward."t  Elsewhere  the  wicked  are  described 
as  violent,  as  corrupters,  as  oppressors,  as  shedders 
of  blood,  as  transgressors  of  the  commandments. 
The  resemblance  to  the  terms  cited  above  is  striking. 
Another  parallel  is  in  the  call  to  repent  and  in  the 
*IV'^\  cf.  32'^.  fl-  1'. 


156  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

assertion  of  the  justice  of  God,  both  which  could  be 
abundantly  illustrated  by  quotation.  God's  knowl- 
edge of  men's  actions  is  spoken  of  in  almost  the  same 
terms  employed  by  Mohammed — including  the  book 
of  record :  "I  saw  a  great  white  throne  and  Him  that 
sat  upon  it,  from  whose  face  earth  and  heaven  fled 
away,  and  there  was  found  no  place  for  them.  And 
I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small,  standing  be- 
fore the  throne ;  and  books  were  opened  .  .  . 
and  the  dead  were  judged  out  of  the  things  which 
were  written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works."  '^" 
So  thoroughly  had  Mohammed  adopted  the  Biblical 
idea  that  we  should  have  no  sense  of  incongruity 
were  we  to  find  this  passage  incorporated  bodily  in 
the  Koran.  In  this,  as  in  some  other  matters  that 
we  have  considered,  he  had  apprehended  and  adopted 
the  Biblical  position. 

And  in  his  later  doctrine  he  was  also  in  line  with 
Biblical  assertions.  The  perplexities  which  beset 
him  were  not  unlike  what  the  Prophets  of  Israel  met. 
It  seems  ludicrous  to  compare  the  battle  of  Ohod  to 
the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadrezzar.  And 
yet,  on  a  small  scale,  the  battle  of  Ohod  was  a  test 
of  faith  to  the  infant  Islam  quite  similar  in  its  effects 
to  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  as  it  appeared  to  believ- 
ing Hebrews.  The  Prophets  were  driven  in  this  great 
crisis  to  take  a  firmer  hold  on  God  as  the  ruler  of 
the  universe.  They  were  compelled  to  clarify  their 
view  of  the  test  imposed  by  calamity  ;  and  they  came 
out  of  the  conflict  with  the  conviction  that  if  God's 
ways  are  not  our  ways,  this  is  because  His  ways  are 

*Rev.  20"-'3. 


TUB  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  157 

higher  than  our  ways.  Mohammed's  declarations 
are  a  weaker  echo  of  these.  But  they  are  enough  to 
show  that  he  had  apprehended  and  appropriated 
their  thought. 

In  other  particulars  than  those  just  mentioned  we 
may  discover  Biblical  influence.  The  sinner's  de- 
struction of  himself,  for  example,  is  affirmed  in  those 
passages  which  speak  of  him  that  digs  a  pit  and  falls 
into  it  himself,  or  of  him  whose  violence  comes  down 
on  his  own  head.  Again :  it  is  "  because  men  do  not 
like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge  "  that  God  gives 
them  up  to  a  reprobate  mind.*  If  men  are  said  in 
the  Koran  to  be  beguiled  by  the  world  so  they  are  in 
the  New  Testament:  "The  cares  of  the  world  and 
the  deceitfulness  of  riches  choke  the  AYord."  f  In 
both  documents  also,  Satan  is  the  tempter.  Where 
the  part  of  God  is  prominently  in  the  mind  of  the 
Biblical  writer,  he  does  not  hesitate  to  say  that  God 
blinds  those  who  sin.  Isaiah  is  commanded  :  "  Make 
the  heart  of  this  people  fat  [that  is,  stupid]  and  make 
their  ears  heavy,  and  shut  [literally,  plaster  over] 
their  eyes,  lest  they  see  with  their  eyes  and  hear  with 
their  ears  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  turn 
again  and  be  healed."  %  The  Biblical  passage  goes 
beyond  Mohammed  in  making  the  blindness  an  effect 
of  the  preaching.  The  familiar  texts  which  speak  of 
God's  hardening  men's  hearts  also  have  their  parallel 
in  the  Koran,  and  to  the  declaration  of  the  latter  that 
God  leads  men  astray  we  may  compare :  "  Why,  O 
Yahweh,  dost  Thou  make  us  to  wander  from  Thy 
way  —  dost  harden  our  hearts  so  as  not  to  fear 
*  Kom.  l-».  t  Matt.  13-^  %  Is.  6'^ 


158  TEE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Thee."  *  Finally,  the  purpose  to  fill  Gehenna  with 
men  and  jinn  reminds  us  that  the  wicked  are  sent 
to  the  eternal  fire  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels.f 

Our  consideration  of  the  divine  government  up  to 
this  point  has  been  mainly  occupied  with  the  prob- 
lem of  sovereignty  and  freedom.  Concerning  these, 
we  find  that  Mohammed  holds  positions  strictly  anal- 
ogous to  those  held  by  Biblical  writers.  He  had  ap- 
prehended the  Biblical  doctrine.  Before  leaving  the 
subject  we  may  briefly  consider  his  doctrine  of  de- 
mons and  angels.  For  it  is  evident  that  these  also 
are  subjects  of  the  government  of  God,  and  their  ac- 
tivity furnishes  problems  similar  to  those  presented 
by  the  freedom  of  man.  In  its  strong  sense  of  the 
reality  of  intelligent  beings  other  than  man,  Islam  is 
in  line  with  mediaeval  Christianity  and  Judaism. 
With  the  luxuriant  fancy  which  has  crowded  Arabic 
literature  with  superhuman  agencies  we  have  nothing 
to  do.  But  so  far  as  they  form  a  part  of  Moslem  re- 
ligion we  cannot  pass  them  by. 

Arabic  heathenism  peopled  the  desert  with  a  class 
of  beings  called  collectively  jinn  (the  singular  is 
jinnee).  We  have  no  word  which  is  exactly  equiva- 
lent, so  that  it  is  best  to  retain  the  Arabic  term.  The 
belief  in  the  jinn  goes  back  to  the  time  when  animals 
were  an  object  of  superstitious  reverence.  The  word 
jann  %  is  applied  in  the  Koran  to  serpents,  and  the 
identity  of  serpents  and  jinn  was  endorsed  by  Mo- 
hammed himself.     At  least  a  tradition  tells  us  of  a 

*Is.  63''.  t  Matt.  25''. 

J  Used  also  interchangeably  withyi>m.     The  passage  is  28-^'. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  159 

young  Moslem  who  ou  return  from  the  wars  had  this 
experience  :  He  found  his  young  wife  standing  out- 
side the  house,  and  in  jealous  anger  lifted  his  spear 
against  her.  She  told  him  to  enter  the  house  and 
see  what  had  driven  her  forth.  He  entered  and  found 
a  serpent  coiled  upon  the  bed.  Transfixing  it  with 
the  spear  he  brought  it  into  the  court,  where  it  writhed 
awhile  about  the  shaft  and  then  died.  But  at  the 
same  time  the  young  man  who  was  holding  the  spear 
also  fell  dead,  though  not  having  received  a  visible 
wound.  Mohammed  on  being  questioned  declared 
that  this  was  ajlnneej  and  that  many  such  who  were 
true  believers  came  into  the  houses  of  the  Mos- 
lems. The  proper  method  of  treating  them,  he  said, 
was  politely  to  entreat  their  departure.  Only  after 
three  days  (the  time  for  which  it  is  obligatory  to 
entertain  a  guest)  was  it  lawful  to  use  violence 
against  them.  We  see  that  the  line  between  ani- 
mals and  demons  (in  the  Greek  sense)  was  not  clearly 
drawn. 

Of  the  belief  in  this  class  of  beings  in  the  primitive 
Semitic  religion  we  have  traces  in  the  Old  Testament. 
The  satyrs  who  danced  among  the  ruins  are  clearly 
allied  to  the  jinn,  and  so  are  the  sliedim  which  we 
have  already  had  occasion  to  mention.  In  the  ac- 
count of  the  battle  of  Ohod  a  jinnee  named  Hairy-heels 
is  said  to  have  proclaimed  the  death  of  Mohammed. 
As  the  satyrs  of  the  Hebrew  are  also  hairy  beings, 
this  is  a  noteworthy  coincidence.  The  night  monster 
Lilitli  which  is  mentioned  with  the  satyrs  and  which 
later  Judaism  classed  with  the  Ghul  belongs  in  the 
same  company,  and  so  does  Azazel  of  whom  we  hear 


160  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

in  the  book  of  Leviticus.  -  Mohammed  had  therefore 
a  precedent  for  retaining  this  popular  superstition  in 
his  religion.  It  enabled  him  plausibly  to  account 
for  some  things  in  heathenism,  as  we  have  already 
seen  ;  and  it  furnished  a  basis  for  the  more  complete 
scheme  of  angels  and  devils  which  he  adopted  from 
Judaism  and  Christianity. 

The  early  Church  had  an  elaborate  theory  concern- 
ing angels  and  demons.  An  authority  on  Church  his- 
tory defines  the  position  of  the  Fathers  as  follows  : 
"  In  regard  to  the  heavenly  spirits  who  belong  to  the 
upper  world,  and  in  fact  constitute  it,  the  orthodox 
Fathers  hold  fast  to  the  following  points :  (1)  that 
they  were  created  by  God ;  (2)  that  they  are  endowed 
with  freedom  but  are  without  material  bodies ;  (3) 
that  they  had  passed  through  a  probation  in  which 
part  of  them  had  persevered  in  good,  others  had 
fallen ;  (4)  that  the  good  spirits  are  organs  of  the  di- 
vine government,  and  their  actions  are  useful  and 
helpful  to  man  and,  indeed,  belong  to  the  means  of 
grace ;  (5)  that  the  actual  evil  in  the  world  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  evil  spirits,  especially  to  their  chief, 
the  Devil,  and  that  these  have  almost  unbounded 
power  on  earth,  but  can  only  tempt  man  to  sin,  not 
compel  him ;  and  that  they  can  be  put  to  flight  by 
the  name  of  Christ,  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  the  sac- 
raments." f  This  describes  exactly  the  position  of 
Mohammed  except  that,  for  the  means  of  defence 
here  named,  he  would  substitute  prayer.     This  scheme 

*  Cf.  W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites^  p.  113  ff.     The  Bibli- 
cal references  are  Lev.  17%  Deut.  32",  Is.  13'^',  34'%  Ps.  IQQ^\ 
fHarnack,  Dogmengeschichie^  II.,  p.  125  f. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  161 

was  combined  with  tlio  belief  in  the  jinn  in  such  a 
way  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish  between 
the  various  classes  of  supernatural  beings.  Some- 
times all  are  classed  as  jinn.  IbHs  is  said  to  be  an 
angel  and  he  is  also  said  to  be  of  the  jinn."^'"  In  gen- 
eral, however,  the  angels  appear  to  be  of  higher  rank. 

From  the  allusions  to  the  jinn  in  the  Koran  wo 
"make  out  that  Mohammed  carried  into  their  world 
the  division  of  believers  and  unbelievers.  They,  like 
men,  were  created  to  serve  but  have  disobeyed,  and 
their  reprobation  is  described  in  the  same  terms  as  the 
reprobation  of  men  :  "  We  have  created  for  Gehen- 
na a  great  number  of  the  jinn  and  of  mankind,  who 
have  hearts  with  which  they  do  not  comprehend,  and 
who  have  eyes  with  which  they  do  not  see,  and  who 
have  ears  with  which  they  do  not  hear — they  are  like 
the  brutes,  yea,  even  more  wayward :  these  are  the 
heedless."  f  The  enmity  of  the  evil  ones  among  them 
toward  mankind,  shows  itself  in  leading  men  to  idol- 
atry :  "  In  the  day  when  He  shall  gather  them  to- 
gether [He  shall  say]  :  O  people  of  the  jinn,  you 
have  had  too  much  advantage  from  men.  Then  will 
their  devotees  say:  Our  Lord,  we  profited  each 
other,  and  we  have  reached  the  term  Thou  has  set  for 
us.  Then  will  He  reply  :  The  Fire  is  your  abode  for- 
ever." X 

We  have  already  noticed  the  Biblical  parallel  to 
this  doctrine.  Another  point  of  resemblance  is  the 
theory  of  demoniacal  possession.  The  Kahin  or  sooth- 
sayer in  heathen  Arabia  spoke  under  the  influence  of 
a  jinn.     The  Old  Testament  belief  that  a  man  could 

♦Koran  2''-,  7'«,  18 '^  t  7"^  JG'-s. 

11 


162  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

prophesy  by  means  of  a  familiar  spirit  is  well  known. 
It  is  also  well  knoAvn  that  to  the  present  day  in  Mo- 
hammedan countries  an  insane  person  is  supposed  to 
be  possessed  by  a  jinnee.  No  clear  line  can  here  be 
drawn  between  the  jinn  and  the  Satans.  The  latter, 
however,  are  certainly  borrowed  from  the  older  relig- 
ions. Their  chief  is  Iblis,  whose  name  is  a  corrup- 
tion of  DiaboIoSf  and  therefore  from  a  Christian 
source.  Iblis  was  an  angel ;  he  refused  to  bow  to  man 
because  he  was  created  of  fire,  while  man  was  created 
of  clay — therefore,  in  his  view,  man  was  the  inferior. 
For  this  disobedience  he  was  banished  from  Paradise. 
In  his  further  career,  he  became  the  tempter  of  man, 
and  will  continue  to  practise  his  arts  until  the  final 
Judgment.  The  Satans  are  his  helpers  :  "  They  turn 
men  from  the  path,  when  these  think  they  are  guided 
aright.""^"  We  are  told  that  Satan  says  to  a  man: 
Disbelieve !  "  But  when  he  disbelieves  [Satan]  says  : 
Verily  I  am  innocent  of  thy  transgressions :  I  fear 
God,  the  Lord  of  the  worlds."  In  the  New  Testa- 
ment also  we  hear  of  devils  who  believe  and  shudder. 
Satan  tried  Job  by  sending  calamities  upon  him.f 
Although  he  has  no  power  over  those  who  commit 
themselves  to  God, J  he  insinuates  evil  thoughts  into 
the  minds  of  believers  when  they  are  careless,  so  that 
he  made  even  Mohammed  forget  part  of  his  mes- 
sage. §  "  He  makes  promises  and  excites  desires, 
but  Satan  promises  only  in  order  to  deceive."  II  All 
this  is  done  in  order  to  destroy  men,  though  it  is  not 
done  without  the  permission  of  God  ;  and  God's  aim 
in  permitting  it,  is  to  prove  men's  faith  and  steadfast- 

*4336.  138^0-49^  tlG'oi.  §66'.  11-4119. 


THE  DIVINE  GOVERNMENT  163 

ness.  That  this  is  in  accord  with  New  Testament 
teaching,  I  need  not  stop  to  point  out."^'  The  mind 
of  Mohammed,  like  that  of  the  Biblical  writers,  was 
concerned  with  this  as  a  practical  matter.  He,  like 
thej,  saw  in  the  temptation  to  sin  an  evil  personal- 
ity arrayed  against  the  believer.  Satan  is  a  wolf 
to  a  man,  "  as  a  woK  to  the  sheep  which  seizes  one 
separated  from  the  flock  "f — just  as  in  the  New 
Testament  he  is  a  roaring  lion  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour. 

And  if  we  find  the  Biblical  doctrine  adopted  for 
this  class  of  beings,  so  we  find  it  adopted  for  their 
counterpart,  the  angels.  These  were  created  to  adore 
God,  and  they  fulfil  the  purpose  of  their  creation: 
*'  To  Him  belongs  what  is  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
and  they  who  are  in  His  presence  are  not  too  proud 
to  serve  Him,  nor  do  they  tire ;  they  utter  praise 
by  night  and  by  day  and  do  not  cease."  %  How 
thoroughly  Biblical  this  is,  we  see  from  Isaiah's  vision 
(where  the  Seraphim  adore  God)  and  from  several 

♦  An  extra-Biblical  assertion  is  that  Solomon  liarl  power  over  the 
demons.  Tliis  apparently  comes  from  a  Jewish  source,  though 
Geiger  points  out  nothing  earlier  than  the  Second  Targum  to 
Esther. 

While  on  this  subject  I  may  mention  a  theory  which  appears  in 
the  Koran,  that  the  shooting  stars  are  heavenly  darts  thrown  to  drive 
away  the  jinn  who  lurk  near  heaven  to  get  information  (Kor.  37'*  ^). 
A  Christian  source  is  pointed  out  by  Ilarnack  {Texte  inid  Unter- 
siichungen^  VIII.,  p.  117)  in  the  wonls  of  Tertullian  :  "  Since  the 
demons  dwell  in  the  air,  near  the  stars,  and  in  connection  witli  the 
clouds,  they  know  what  is  preparing  there,  and  so  are  al)le  to  proph- 
esy." In  the  clear  air  of  Arabia,  the  sliooting  stars  naturally 
fitted  into  this  view. 

tMs/iCrt^  I.,  p.  51.  t21'^f. 


164  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

passages  in  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  probably  a  remi- 
niscence of  Isaiah's  vision  when  the  angels  are  de- 
scribed as  having  two,  three,  or  fonr  pair  of  wings.* 
They  carry  the  throne  of  God,  as  do  the  living  creat- 
ures of  Ezekiel's  vision,  t  They  are,  moreover,  the 
messengers  of  God  and  the  organs  of  revelation ;  and 
the  Biblical  influence  goes  so  far  that  Mohammed 
borrows  the  names  Gabriel  and  Michael.  In  the 
traditions  it  is  uniformly  Gabriel  who  brings  the 
Koran,  and  this  is  apparently  the  mind  of  the  Proph- 
et, though  only  once  in  the  Koran  itself  does  he  name 
Gabriel  in  connection  with  the  revelations.  You  will 
remember  that  Gabriel  appears  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  the  bringer  of  God's  messages. 

Besides  this,  the  angels  have  charge  of  the  believer : 
**  Each  one  has  attendants  who  succeed  each  other, 
who  guard  him  by  the  command  of  God.":t  They 
keep  the  record  of  man's  actions  :  "  When  the  two 
beings  meet  seated  at  the  right  and  left  [of  a  man], 
he  does  not  utter  a  word  that  there  is  not  for  it  a 
watcher  ready."  §  They  are  especially  interested  in 
the  believer's  worship.  When  one  is  praying  in  the 
mosque,  the  augels  do  not  cease  interceding  for  him, 
and  the  Amen  of  the  leader  in  worship  is  taken  up 
and  repeated  by  them.  II  In  heaven  they  intercede 
for  the  believers :  "  The  angels  repeat  the  praise  of 
their  Lord  and  ask  pardon  for  those  on  earth."  IF 
This  goes  further  than  the  Biblical  statements,  which 
only  say  in  general  that  the  angels  have  charge  over 
the  believer  and  minister  to  him.'-^*     But  the  develop- 

*  Koran  35'.         f  40',  69-7.        J  13''^  §  50'^  f. 

II  Bochari,  I.,  pp.  14G,  170.        «|[  Koran  421       ♦*  Ps.  91",  Ileb.  V\ 


THE  DIVINE  QOTERNMENT  165 

ment   is   the  same   which   we   find   in   post-Biblical 
Christianity. 

The  results  of  our  inquiry  may  be  summed  up  in 
a  very  few  words.  In  Mohammed  we  see  the  relig- 
ious conception  of  a  single  Ruler  of  the  universe 
united  with  the  moral  conception  of  the  Supreme 
Judge.  Without  attempting  to  reconcile  these,  the 
Prophet  does  not  hesitate  to  affirm  them  and  to 
apply  them  to  his  own  circumstances.  He  extends 
them  also  to  the  extra-human  communities  which  he 
adopts  partly  from  Arabic  tradition,  and  partly  from 
Jewish  and  Christian  belief.  Throughout,  he  shows 
dependence  on  Biblical  ideas  though  without  verbal 
quotation  of  Biblical  language. 


LECTUEE  VI. 

REVELATION   AND   PROPHECY 

The  present  lecture  will  examine  conceptions  funda- 
mental to  all  religions,  at  least  to  all  the  higher  relig- 
ions. Granted  the  existence  of  a  God,  how  is  His  will 
made  known  to  man  ?  It  is  obvious  that  He  does  not 
speak  audibly  to  all  men.  Although  He  makes  Him- 
self known  in  natui-e,  the  majority  of  mankind  are 
too  bhnd  or  too  heedless  to  attend  to  this  word.  If 
men  are  to  know  God  they  must  have  a  more  distinct 
message.  And  this  message  is  given  by  the  voice  of 
men  to  whom  God  has  communicated  it,  and  whom 
He  calls  to  the  office  of  His  heralds.  The  doctrine  of 
such  a  message  is  fully  adopted  in  Islam.  Along-side 
of  the  declaration  that  there  is  no  God  but  Allah,  we 
hear  the  equally  emphatic  declaration  that  Mohammed 
is  the  Apostle  of  Allah.  Mohammed  so  described 
himself,  having  borrowed  the  title,  as  well  as  the  idea, 
from  the  earlier  revealed  religions. 

The  conception  of  prophecy  is,  in  the  case  of  Mo- 
hammed, complicated  by  the  further  idea  that  the 
revelations  given  by  a  prophet  constitute  a  book. 
The  two  do  not  necessarily  go  together.  Take  the 
earlier  jorophets  of  Israel.  Elijah  and  Elisha  seem  to 
have  felt  no  impulse  to  put  their  utterances  into  per- 
manent form.     Their  expectation  was  probably  the 

16G 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  167 

same  to  which  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  gives  ex- 
pression— that  God  would  provide  a  succession  of 
prophets  for  His  people.  Their  guidance  would  be 
continuous  and  constant ;  the  people  would  always  be 
able  to  appeal  to  a  living  organ  of  revelation.  God 
would  always  be  in  touch  with  them  and  they  with 
Him. 

Curiously  enough  the  publication  of  the  very  Book 
v/hich  formulated  this  expectation  of  a  constant  suc- 
cession of  prophets,  introduced  another  conception, 
which  has  now  displaced  the  former  both  in  Judaism 
and  in  Christianity.  Instead  of  looking  to  the  man 
of  God  and  inquiring :  what  saith  the  Lord  ? — we  now 
open  the  pages  of  the  Book  of  God  and  inquire :  what 
do  we  find  written  ?  The  spoken  word  of  God  has 
become  the  recorded  Book  of  God.  Mohammed  re- 
ceived the  idea  in  this  form.  With  him  revelation 
and  Scripture  belonged  together.  Allow  me  to  show 
this  in  a  few  words. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Mo- 
hammed himself  could  read  or  write.  The  question 
has  been  debated  more  fully  than  its  importance  war- 
rants. The  zealous  Moslem  is  very  willing  to  argue  that 
he  could  not,  because  the  miracle  of  the  Koran  seems 
thereby  to  be  made  the  greater.  Modem  scholars, 
whose  culture  is  inseparably  connected  with  books, 
cannot  conceive  of  a  man  of  such  influence  being  ig- 
norant. All  that  we  know  is,  that  when  Mohammed 
had  occasion  to  write,  he  employed  an  amanuensis,  and 
tliat  in  one  place  in  the  Koran  he  is  addressed  thus  : 
"  Thou  wast  not  accustomed  before  this  to  read  a  book 
nor  to  write  with  thy  right  hand — then  the  deceivers 


168  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

were  in  doubt."  "^  As  in  the  immediate  context  lie  is 
speaking  of  sacred  books,  lie  may  mean  no  more  than 
that  he  had  not  been  a  reader  of  such  books ;  though 
the  general  terms  which  he  uses  naturally  imj)ly  that 
he  had  no  acquaintance  with  any  books. 

But  if  we  hesitate  to  draw  this  conclusion,  and  so 
leave  the  general  question  undecided,  we  may  yet  ac- 
cept the  plain  statement  of  the  passage  :  Until  a  time 
when  he  was  fairly  launched  upon  his  career,  Moham- 
med had  not  read  the  Bible. 

This  conclusion  is  confirmed  by  the  contents  of  the 
Koran.  Although  (as  we  have  seen)  a  large  part  of 
this  book  is  derived  ultimately  from  the  Bible,  yet  in 
no  instance  does  it  show,  on  the  part  of  the  author, 
such  exact  knowledge  as  w"ould  come  from  the  study, 
or  even  the  reading,  of  its  text.  He  makes  but  one 
or  two  quotations  from  it.  Even  when  he  professes 
to  give  the  substance  of  certain  parts  of  it — as  the 
covenant  between  God  and  Israel — he  reproduces 
them  very  imperfectly.  The  stories  he  takes  from  it, 
vary  in  a  multitude  of  details  from  their  originals. 
He  makes  gross  chronological  blunders,  as  where  he 
identifies  the  Yirgin  Mary  with  the  Old  Testament 
Miriam.  He  so  misunderstood  Judaism  that  he  says 
the  Jews  make  Ezra  the  son  of  God — something  which 
even  superficial  acquaintance  with  the  Old  Testament 
would  have  prevented.  In  a  tradition  it  is  related  that 
when  he  built  his  mosque  at  Medina,  he  was  asked 

♦Koran,  29  '  Those  who  wish  to  see  a  fuller  discussion  of  Mo- 
hammed's literary  attainments  may  consult  Noldeke,  Geschichte  des 
Korans^  p.  8;  Goldziher,  Die  Zahiriten^  j).  171;  Sprenger,  Lehen 
des  Muhammed,  II.,  j).  3i)8. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  169 

wliy  he  did  not  make  it  of  more  substantial  materials. 
He  replied :  "  My  temple  shall  be  like  the  tabernacle 
of  Moses,  which  was  made  of  wood  and  straw."  "^ 
AH  the  evidence,  then,  goes  to  show  that  Moham- 
^  med's  acquaintance  with  the  Uible  came  from  oral 
communication jwithLJjjWg  and  Christians.  AlthougE 
our  knowledge  of  Mecca  during  Mohammed's  early 
life  is  very  imperfect  wo  are  tolerably  certain  that 
there  was  no  considerable  number  of  either  Jews  or 
Christians  there.  Of  the  Jews  at  Medina  we  have 
ample  knowledge,  and  if  there  had  been  either  syna- 
gogue or  church  at  Mecca  the  fact  would  doubtless 
have  been  preserved  by  tradition.  All  that  tradition 
tells  us  is  that  there  were  a  very  few  Christians  at 
Mecca,  the  most  of  them  slaves.  It  speaks  also  of 
Waraka,  a  cousin  of  Chadija,  Mohammed's  first  wife, 
who  was  a  Christian  "  and  accustomed  to  write  the 
Gospels  in  Hebrew  " — by  which,  no  doubt,  Syriac  is 
meant.  This  Waraka  is  made  by  tradition  to  recog- 
nize Mohammed  as  a  prophet  at  the  very  beginning 
of  his  career ;  and  it  is  possible  that  such  a  man  ex- 
isted, and  that  he  influenced  Mohammed.f  But  the 
desire  of  tradition  to  secure  Christian  recognition  and 
endorsement  for  Mohammed  is  so  strong,  that  we  are 
obliged  to  be  cautious  in  receiving  this  account  as 
though  it  was  a  historic  fact.  More  weight  may  be 
allowed  to  the  assertion  that  there  were  Christian 
slaves  X  at  Mecca  to  whom  Mohammed's  attention 
was  called  by  their  chanting  of  the  Scriptures. 

*  Sprenger,  III.,  p.  14.     Cf.  Koriin  2',  9'». 

f  On  Waraka,  cf.  JJochari,  I.  p.  3. 

X  Muir  refers  to  three  such  shives  all  of  wliora  became  Moslems, 


170  TEE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Let  us  imagine  a  religious  inquirer  led  to  converse 
with  such  slaves.  We  may  assume  that  they  had  no 
Arabic  translation  of  the  Bible.  Their  Bible  was 
probably  in  Syriac.  Besides  this,  it  is  extremely  un- 
likety  that  they  had  any  books,  even  Syriac  books,  in 
their  possession.  Books  were  a  rare  commodity  and 
not  owned  by  slaves.  But  Christian  slaves  would 
have  some  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  especially  of  those 
parts  of  the  Bible  most  frequently  used  in  the  public 
service.  This  would  include  the  Psalms  and  Gospels 
quite  certainly,  for  these  were  used  in  the  churches 
from  very  early  times.  Let  us  suppose  their  knowl- 
edge to  be  limited  in  amount  and  crude  in  quality. 
The  question  with  us  is  :  What  effect  would  their  use 
of  Scripture  have  upon  an  inquirer  like  Mohammed  ? 

For  one  thing  it  Avould  satisfy  a  want  of  his  soul. 
We  can  hardly  help  supposing  that  he  was  already 
religiously  awakened.  He  was  dissatisfied  with  the 
ancestral  religion  and  longing  for  something  better. 
This  desire  would  lead  him  to  inquire  for  a  wor- 
thy service  of  God.  Liturgy  is  an  important  part 
of  every  religion.  Mohammed  is  dissatisfied  with 
heathenism ;  he  is  seeking  a  way  in  which  to  serve 
God.  He  comes  across  these  young  men  and  hears 
their  chant.  Asking  what  it  means,  he  is  told  that 
they  are  celebrating  the  praises  of  God.  On  further 
inquiry  he  is  told  that  the  words  they  use  are  forms 
supplied  by  God  Himself  from  His  holy  Book.  It 
seems  to  me  that  he  would  recognize  in  this  service 

Life  of  Mahomet^  II.,  p.  122.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Zaid,  who 
may  be  called  a  forerunner  of  Mohammed,  was  exercised  about  the 
right  way  to  worship  God.— 76??  Hischam^  I.,  p.  108. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  171 

just  what  he  was  looking  for  ;  that  ho  would  find  this 
an  entirely  worthy  service,  and  would  have  a  great 
desire  to  adopt  such  a  service  for  himself. 

Now  tradition  assures  us  that  for  some  time  before 
his  call,  Mohammed  used  to  retire  to  a  cave  near 
Mecca,  and  give  himself,  for  days  at  a  time,  to  exer- 
cises of  devotion.  It  does  not  seem  fanciful  to  sup- 
pose that  he  Avas  endeavoring  to  serve  God  after  the 
manner  just  described.  In  this  endeavor  we  can  see 
that  he  would  meet  with  some  per[:>lexities.  The  ser- 
vice of  Jews  and  Christians,  he  had  learned,  is  based 
upon  a  divine  book.  This  book  was  inaccessible  to 
him.  If  he  could  get  a  copy  it  would  be  useless  to 
him  because  in  a  foreign  language.  The  broken 
Arabic  of  his  Christian  friends  would  be  inadequate 
in  form.  In  this  per^olexity,  he  would  naturally  throw 
himself  upon  God.  If  God  in  His  mercy  would  only 
send  him  portions  of  His  Book,  as  He  had  sent  por- 
tions to  the  prophets,  how  gladly  would  he  receive 
them  and  use  them  in  a  service  of  praise ! 

Such  desires  would  raise  the  further  question — why 
may  not  God  send  an  Arabic  prophet  ?  To  Moham- 
med all  the  world  was  organized  in  tribes  like  those 
of  Arabia.  The  tribe  of  the  Jews  had  been  favored 
by  God  with  more  than  one  prophet.  The  tribe  of 
the  Christians  had  had  Jesus.  It  would  not  be  strange 
if  Arabia  should  be  visited  by  the  divine  grace.  If 
such  a  prophet  were  to  arise  he  would  be  fm-nished 
with  such  divinely  appointed  liturgical  compositions 
as  the  Psalms.  Not  that  Mohammed  would  lay  any 
special  stress  upon  their  being  written  down.  His 
conception  of  a  book  was  not  like  ours.     We  think  of 


172  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

a  book  as  something  to  be  read  in  a  quiet  corner,  and 
studied,  and  23ondered  over.  To  liim  a  book  was  a 
repository  of  words  that  were  to  be  read  aloud  or  re- 
cited. If  its  contents  were  known  by  heart,  the  writ- 
ten document  was  unnecessary. 

As  we  well  know,  Mohammed  called  his  revelations 
Koran,  A  single  chapter  is  a  Koran,  and  the  whole 
collection  is  the  Koran.  The  verb  from  which  this 
name  is  derived  does  not  mean  to  read  in  our  sense, 
but  to  7'ead  aloud,  to  recite^  or  to  cliant- — precisely  the 
act  which  is  performed  in  the  public  service  of  the 
Church,  the  Synagogue,  and  the  Mosque.  The  pres- 
ence or  absence  of  a  written  exemplar  makes  no  dif- 
ference. The  recitation  is  a  quran  just  the  same. 
The  words  recited  may  be  called  a  book,  even  although 
they  are  not  committed  to  paper.  Mohammed  makes 
the  infant  Jesus  in  the  cradle  speak  and  describe 
himself  thus  :  "  I  am  the  servant  of  God,  He  has  given 
me  the  Book  and  made  me  a  prophet."  *  It  would  be 
absurd  to  suppose  the  new-born  babe  holding  a  ma- 
terial book  in  his  hand.  What  is  meant  is  that  the 
infant  prophet  had  the  truth  m  his  heart.  With  this 
agrees  the  description  of  the  Koran  as  "  clear  verses 
in  the  h^easts  of  those  who  have  received  knowledge  " ; 
and  in  another  passage  the  revelation  is  sent  upon  the 
heart  of  the  Prophet  himself  that  he  should  become 
one  of  the  warners.f 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  tradition  of  the  call  of  Mo- 
hammed. We  must  use  it  with  a  certain  reserve,  for 
Ayesha,  from  whom  it  is  received,  was  only  eighteen 
years  old  at  the  time  of  her  husband's  death,  and  the 

*  Koran,  19^^.  f  29^^  2Q>'^K 


REVELATION  AND  rROPIIEGY  173 

event  of  wliicli  she  speaks  took  place  before  her  birtb. 
All  sbe  could  have  beard  was  Mohammed's  recollec- 
tions of  his  call;  and  whether  she  was  capable  of  un- 
derstanding clearly  what  he  attempted  to  describe, 
or  of  repeating  his  account  without  additions  sug- 
gested by  her  own  lively  imagination,  is  a  question. 
However,  the  information  is  the  best  we  have,  and 
we  must  make  the  best  we  can  out  of  it.  It  reads  as 
follows : 

"The  first  of  the  revelations  which  came  to  the 
Apostle  of  Allah  was  a  good  dream ;  and  he  did  not 
have  a  dream  without  there  coming  something  like 
the  break  of  day.  Then  he  liked  to  be  alone  and  he 
used  to  go  to  the  cave  of  Hira  and  purify  himself — ■ 
this  [purification]  was  a  performance  of  religious  ex- 
ercises several  nights — until  he  desired  [to  return  to] 
his  family.  And  he  used  to  provide  himself  with 
food  for  these  periods  and  did  so  again  and  again, 
until  [finally]  the  truth  came  to  him.  And  he  was  in 
the  cave  of  Hira,  and  the  angel  came  to  him  and  said : 
Kecite!  He  replied:  I  cannot  recite.'^  Then,  said 
he  [that  is,  Mohammed]  he  took  hold  of  me  and 
squeezed  me  to  the  utmost  of  my  endurance.  Then 
he  let  me  go  and  said  again :  Eecite  !  "  The  same 
answer  was  given  and  the  same  action  repeated  a 
second  and  a  third  time.  At  the  last  the  angel  re- 
peated these  verses,  which  now  constitute  a  part  of 
the  Koran : 

**  Recite  in  the  name  of  thy  Lord  who  created, 
Created  man  from  a  clot  of  blood  ; 
Recite !     Thy  Lord  is  bountiful  ; 

♦Literally  :  I  am  not  a  reciter . 


174  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

He  who  has  taught  man  by  the  pen  : 

Taught  him  what  he  did  not  know. 

But  man  is  rebelhous 

As  soon  as  he  sees  himself  becoming  rich  ; 

Yet  verily  to  thy  Lord  they  shall  return  !  "  * 

The  verses  are  in  rhymed  prose — a  form  which  ex- 
tends throughout  the  Koran.  We  should  note  how- 
ever that  in  the  earlier  suras  we  have  a  much  nearer 
approach  to  a  regular  metre  than  in  the  later  com- 
positions. In  the  revelation  before  us,  the  verses  are 
nearly  equal  in  length  and  also  short,  so  that  the 
rhyme  and  the  rhythm  strike  the  ear  at  once.  These 
early  suras  are  all  well  adopted  for  the  cantillation  or 
intonation  which  prevails  in  the  public  service  of  the 
Oriental  Church  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  Synagogue. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  account  of  Moham- 
med's call  is  not  altogether  clear.  But  the  main  facts 
seem  worthy  of  credence.  The  first  of  these  is  that 
Mohammed  was  deeply  concerned  on  the  subject  of 
religion.  This  is  evidenced  by  his  frequent  and  pro- 
longed visits  to  the  lonely  cave.  There  is  a  tradition 
which  even  affirms  that  his  religious  anxiety  brought 
him  to  the  verge  of  suicide.  If  this  be  true,  it  only 
shows  more  clearly  the  depth  of  his  emotion.  The 
next  fact  indicated  is  that  he  had  a  vision  of  the  night. 
This  is  not  the  only  indication  that  his  early  revela- 
tions were  received  in  the  night.  For  the  present  it 
is  sufficient  to  note  that  tradition  brings  his  earliest 
experience  of  this  kind  into  connection  with  a  vivid 
dream.  Lastly  we  notice  that  the  vision  brings  him 
something  which  we  suppose  he  would  greatly  desire, 

*  Koran,  OG'-^. 


REVELATION  AND  PROVUEGY  175 

that  is,  a  form  which  he  could  use  for  the  worship  of 
God. 

The  endeavor  to  make  the  experiences  of  a  religions 
miud  psychologically  intelligible  is  one  frequently 
made  but  rarely  successful.  It  is  doubtful  whether  if 
we  could  cross-question  Mohammed  himseK,  we  could 
explain  all  his  experiences.  But  tentatively  we  may 
be  allowed  to  construct  from  the  data  before  us  a  story 
such  as  he  would  tell  us,  and  which  would  be  logically 
consistent.  We  suppose  him  anxious  on  the  subject 
of  religion,  convinced  that  the  one  true  God  does 
reveal  Himself  to  His  servants,  and  possessed  by  a 
strong  desire  to  know  His  way  more  perfectly.  With 
this  on  his  mind  Mohammed  spends  days  in  his  cave, 
meditating  on  these  things  and  calling  upon  God.  At 
last  in  the  midst  of  the  little  sleep  he  allows  himself, 
he  has  a  vivid  dream.  A  bright  light  seems  to  break 
upon  him.  He  sees  a  radiant  form,  which  speaks  and 
gives  him  what  he  has  sought.  The  evidence  of  the 
truth  of  the  vision  is  the  stanza  which  remains  in  his 
memory  after  he  awakes,  a  form  of  words  which  he 
can  use  in  the  praise  of  his  Lord.  If  this  were  Mo- 
hammed's experience  it  was  an  experience  which 
brings  him  into  the  company  of  many  others.  For 
many  seekers  after  truth  and  beauty  have  confessed 
that  after  long  striving — a  striving  which  has  brought 
them  to  despair — the  object  of  their  search  has  come 
to  them  suddenly  like  the  rising  of  the  dawn. 

The  next  sura  in  point  of  time  is  said  to  be  one 
that  begins :  "  O  Thou  who  art  wrapped  in  a  gar- 
ment !  "  Tradition  has  fastened  on  those  words,  and 
has  invented  a  situation  for  them.     It  tells  us  that 


176  TEE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Mohammed  Avas  subject  to  epileptic  fits,  and  that, 
when  he  felt  these  coming  on,  he  would  have  Chadija 
wrap  him  in  a  covering  so  that  he  would  be  protected 
from  the  air,  or  from  the  gaze  of  curious  visitors.  On 
the  basis  of  this  tradition  a  modern  scholar  *  has 
built  up  an  elaborate  theory  of  Mohammed's  epileptic 
or  hysterical  disease.  But  the  foundation  is  insuffi- 
cient. The  tradition  is  built  upon  the  single  phrase 
just  quoted  which  describes  the  one  addressed  as 
wrapped  in  a  garment.  But  every  oriental  wraps 
himself  in  a  garment  when  he  lies  down  to  sleep. 
All  that  we  can  legitimately  conclude  from  the  words 
is  that  the  revelation  came  to  the  Prophet  when  he 
was  asleep.  "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest !  "  is  the  nat- 
ural meaning  of  the  address,  and  we  have  here  an- 
other evidence  that  these  earlier  revelations  came  as 
visions  of  the  night.  The  famous  night  journey  to 
Jerusalem  is  evidence  in  the  same  direction.f 

Because  his  first  visions  were  visions  of  the  night, 
it  does  not  follow  that  all  the  later  ones  were  of  the 
same  kind.  The  statements  are  many  to  the  effect 
that  the  Prophet  had  visions  also  in  his  waking  hours. 
He  would  become  apparently  unconscious  ;  breathed 
heavily  ;  the  perspiration  broke  out  upon  him  even 
in  a  wintry  day.  %  After  such  a  fit,  he  would  give  an 
answer  to  a  question  that  had  perplexed  him,  or 
would  recount  a  vision  that  he  had  seen.     How  far 

*  Sprenger  in  his  Lehen  und  Lehre  des  Muhammed. 

fTbe  night  visit  is  alluded  to  17'.  It  should  be  noted  that  two 
suras  (73  and  74)  begin  with  an  address  to  the  one  wrapped  in  a 
garment. 

XBochari,  I.,  p.  3,  II.,  pp.  117,  132,  186;  Vakidi  (Wellhausen), 
p.  181. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  177 

he  was  subject  to  physical  disease,  and  how  far  these 
extraordinary  states  may  be  explained  as  the  result  of 
mental  excitement,  is  difficult  to  say.  We  can  readily 
see  the  strong  emotion  which  any  one  w^ould  feel  at 
the  approach  of  a  heavenly  messenger.  Any  man  of 
ordinary  sensibility,  if  convinced  that  he  was  about 
to  receive  a  superhuman  revelation,  would  become  ex- 
cited, and  his  emotion  might  produce  physical  effects 
such  as  are  here  described  for  us.  In  order  to  ac- 
count for  them,  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  either 
that  Mohammed  was  epileptic  or  that  he  was  playing 
a  part. 

It  is  to  our  present  purpose  to  point  out  that,  both 
in  the  matter  of  dreams  and  of  waking  visions,  Mo- 
hammed's experience  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Bibli- 
cal organs  of  revelation.  The  importance  of  dreams 
is  evident  upon  the  face  of  the  Old  Testament  narra- 
tive. Jacob  has  a  decisive  revelation  in  a  dream. 
Joseph's  dreams  foreshadowed  God's  dealings  with 
him.  The  author  of  the  Book  of  Job  assumes  that 
God  speaks  to  men  ''in  thoughts  from  the  visions  of 
the  night  when  deep  sleep  falleth  on  men."  So  in 
the  New  Testament ;  the  angel  which  encouraged 
Paul  stood  by  him  in  the  night,  the  most  natural  in- 
terpretation of  the  words  being  that  he  appeared  in 
a  dream.  Without  lapng  stress  upon  the  cases  where 
the  dream  is  sent  to  startle  the  unbeliever  (as  Pharaoh 
or  Nebuchadrezzar)  it  is  clearly  made  out  that,  to  the 
Old  Testament  writers,  the  dream  was  one  method 
of  revelation.  Jeremiah,  to  be  sure,  speaks  slighting- 
ly of  dreams  and  seems  to  contrast  tlieni  with  the 
voice  which  came  to  the  prophet.  But  this  we  must 
13 


178  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

explain  as  a  reaction  against  the  abuse  of  dreams  by 
the  prophets  of  his  time. 

And  if  the  waking  vision  produced  extraordinary 
physical  manifestations,  or  was  accompanied  by  ex- 
traordinary physical  manifestations  in  Mohammed, 
the  same  is  seen  in  the  Old  Testament  prophets. 
Balaam  speaks  of  himself  as  falling  down  when  he 
had  the  vision  of  the  Almighty.  Ezekiel  fell  upon 
his  face  when  he  saw  the  chariot  of  glory.  So  did 
Daniel  at  the  appearance  of  Gabriel ;  and  John,  when 
ke  had  a  revelation  of  the  Son  of  Man,  fell  at  his 
feet  like  one  dead.  The  phenomena  are  strikingly 
alike,  though  a  direct  connection  does  not  seem  to 
exist. 

But  it  is  time  to  look  beyond  these  externals  to  the 
substance  of  Mohammed's  revelations.  What  was  it 
to  which  he  was  called  ?  To  answer  this  question  we 
may  look  at  one  or  two  of  these  early  chapters.  One 
has  been  already  quoted.  Another,  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made,  reads  as  follows  : 

*'  O,  thou  who  art  wrapped  in  a  garment ; 
Rise  and  warn  ! 
And  magnify  thy  Lord, 
And  cleanse  thy  garments, 
And  flee  iniquity  ! 

And  do  not  spend  with  the  desire  of  gain  ; 
And  wait  patiently  for  thy  Lord  ! 
When  a  blast  is  blown  upon  the  trumpet 
That  will  be  a  distressful  day, 
Not  easy  for  the  unbelievers.  "  * 

*  Koran,  74''''^.  The  rhyme  changes  in  the  next  verse,  so  that 
this  section  is  probably  a  revelation  by  itself. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHEGT  179 

The  message  is  evidently  a  command  to  preach. 
**  Arise  and  warn  "  is  its  key-note.  The  rest  is  inter- 
preted by  this.  In  order  to  warn,  he  must  himself  be 
an  example  of  faith.  That  is,  he  must  worship  in  an 
acceptable  manner,  purifying  his  garments  and  call- 
ing upon  the  name  of  his  Lord.  It  is  this  which  was 
emphasized  in  the  first  revelation.  The  Prophet  is 
there  called  upon  to  recite  the  praises  of  God,  that 
is,  to  spend  the  time  in  worship.  In  both,  the  com- 
mand is  motived  by  the  tliought  of  the  approaching 
judgment.  Man  is  rebellious  and  will  be  brought  to 
an  account.  The  trumpet  will  be  blown  and  a  dis- 
tressful day  ensue.  These  are  evidently  reasons  for 
the  command  to  warn  men  of  their  danger.  In  this 
respect,  the  call  of  Mohammed  is  like  the  call  to  the 
Old  Testament  prophets.  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  the 
prophets  in  general,  are  sent  to  rebuke  a  sinful 
nation,  to  declare  the  wrath  of  God,  and  to  thi-eaten 
approaching  calamity. 

If  we  desire  further  light  upon  what  Mohammed 
felt  called  to  do,  we  may  examine  others  of  his  early 
compositions,  for  we  may  be  sure  that  in  them  he 
tries  to  carry  out  the  command  of  God.  What  we 
find  on  such  examination  is,  that  some  of  these  are 
forms  of  prayer.     Thus  : 

'  *  Praise  be  to  God,  Lord  of  the  Ages, 
The  Compassionate,  the  Merciful, 
King  of  the  Day  of  Judgment  : 
Thee  we  serve  and  to  Thee  we  cry  for  help, 
Lead  us  in  the  straight  path, 
The  path  of  those  to  whom  Thou  art  gracious, 
Upon  whom  is  no  wrath  and  who  do  not  stray."  * 
*  Koran,  1,  the  well  known  Fatiha. 


180  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

A  profession  of  faith  is  a  part  of  worship,  so  that 
we  put  here  the  following  : 

**  God  is  one, 
The  Self-existent ; 
He  begets  not  and  is  not  begotten, 
And  none  is  equal  to  Him."  * 

Evidently  designed  to  be  used  in  worship  are  some 
others,  as  the  fifty-fifth,  which  with  its  recurring  re- 
frain reminds  us  of  Psalm  136.  Far  more  numerous 
are  the  addresses  designed  to  warn  men  of  their  dan- 
ger.    For  example : 

**  The  desire  of  gain  absorbs  you, 
Until  you  visit  the  tomb. 
Yet  you  shall  certainly  know, 
Then  shall  you  certainly  know  ! 
Nay  !     If  you  knew  with  clear  knowledge 
You  would  certainly  see  the  flame  ; 
Then  would  you  see  it  with  clear  eye, 
In  that  day  you  shall  be  asked  concerning 
your  pleasures. "  f 

This  one  is  somewhat  vague  in  its  description  of 
the  expected  punishment,  though  it  is  interesting  for 
its  accusation  of  covetousness  as  the  root  of  men's 
evil  actions.  Usually  the  judgment  is  depicted  with 
vividness,  as  in  the  following : 

**  Wlien  the  heavens  shall  open, 
And  shall  hear  their  Lord  and  obey  ; 
When  the  earth  shall  be  laid  flat, 
And  shall  cast  away  what  is  in  it  and  be  empty, 
And  shall  hear  its  Lord  and  obey — 

*  Koran,  112.  f  102. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPUEUY  181 

O,  man  though  thou  strive  hard   against  thy  Lord,  yet 

shalt  thou  meet  Him. 
And  he  who  receives  his  book  in  his  right  hand 
Shall  be  judged  lenientlj'', 
And  shall  return  to  his  friends  with  joy. 
But  he  who  receives  his  book  behind  his  back 
Shall  wish  for  anniliilation, 
And  shall  suffer  the  Fire. 
Once  he  rejoiced  amid  his  friends — 
He  thought  he  should  not  be  moved. 
Yet  verily,  thy  Lord  was  observing  him. 

•  ••••  •••• 

But  what  ails  them,  that  they  do  not  believe  ? 
And,  when  the  Scripture  is  recited,  do  not  bow  ? 
The  unbelievers  even  accuse  it  of  being  false  ! 
But  God  knoweth  their  secret  thought. 
Therefore  bring  them  tidings  of  a  severe  punishment, 
But  those  who  believe  and  do  well  receive  an  unstinted 
reward. "  * 

These  citations  are  enough  to  show  what  Mohammed 
■understood  to  be  his  mission.  He  had  received  a  call 
to  worship  God  and  to  preach.  This  call  he  obeyed 
to  the  best  of  his  ability.  Doubtless  he  had  some 
shrinking  before  appearing  in  public,  as  is  indicated 
in  the  tradition — where  the  auGjel  uses  force  before  he 
secures  obedience.  In  this  also  he  will  be  found  in 
line  with  the  Biblical  prophets.  Moses  seeks  to  be 
excused  from  the  work  to  which  he  is  called,  on  the 
ground  of  inability  to  speak,  and  Jeremiah  pleads  his 
youth  as  a  reason  why  he  should  not  be  sent  to  Judah. 
This  is,  of  course,  a  natural  experience  ;  we  can  hardly 
suppose  that  Mohammed  was  influenced  here  by  his 
Biblical  knowledge. 

*  Koran,  84. 


182  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

In  his  later  life,  however,  he  elaborated  the  theory 
of  revelation  more  distinctly,  and  in  the  additional 
details  we  can  clearly  trace  Biblical  ideas.  Up  to 
this  point  we  have  had  only  tradition  to  go  upon,  for 
the  mode  of  revelation.  For  the  later  period  we 
have  more  positive  assertions  in  the  Koran.  As  to 
the  objective  reality  of  what  he  saw  he  never  had  any 
doubt.  But  he  was  sometimes  obliged  to  assure  his 
followers  of  it.  So  we  have  a  description  of  his  ex- 
periences in  the  following : 

**  By  the  Pleiades  when  they  set  ! 
Your  fellow-citizen  is  not  astray  or  erring. 
He  does  not  speak  his  own  fancy. 
[What  he  speaks]  is  a  revelation  sent  to  him. 
The  Mighty  in  power  taught  it  to  him 
The  Possessor  of  strength.     He  stood  erect 
In  the  upper  horizon  ; 
Then  he  drew  near  and  condescended, 
And  was  two  bows'  lengths  [from  him]  or  nearer. 
And  he  made  known  to  his  servant  what  he  made  known. 
The  heart  did  not  deceive  concerning  what  it  saw  ; 
And  will  you  dispute  concerning  what  he  saw? 
He  saw  him  another  time, 
By  the  sidra  tree  of  the  border, 
Near  which  is  the  garden  of  abode  ; 
Then  covered  the  sidra  tree  that  which  covered  it, 
The  eye  did  not  turn  aside  nor  refuse  [to  look], 
And  he  saw  the  greatest  of  the  signs  of  his  Lord."  * 

The  language  is  obscure  in  places  and  is  made  more 
so,  rather  than  less,  by  the  commentators.  These 
suppose  the  sidra  tree  spoken  of,  to  be  located  in 
heaven.     It  seems  to  me,  on  the  contrary,  to  be  on 

*  Koran,  53'-i8. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  183 

earth,  in  fact  to  be  a  well-known  tree  at  Mecca,  men- 
tioned for  the  piu'pose  of  locating  the  experience  of 
which  the  Prophet  speaks.  He  saw  this  tree  covered 
with  something — he  purposely  does  not  describe  it 
more  exactly — probably  a  bright  light  such  as  was 
spoken  of  in  tradition  and  compared  to  the  daybreak. 
This  miracle,  upon  which  his  eye  was  able  to  look 
steadfastly,  was  one  of  the  theophanies  in  his  experi- 
ence. It  is  impossible  not  to  see  in  it  a  reminiscence 
of  the  burning  bush  in  Exodus.  At  another  time,  the 
Prophet  tells  us,  he  saw  a  figure  appear  in  the  horizon 
which  descended  to  the  place  where  lie  himself  was, 
and  talked  with  him.  So  in  Israel  the  angel  of  Yah- 
weh  calls  out  of  heaven,"^  or  descends  thence,  as  is 
evidenced  by  his  ascending  in  the  flame  of  the  sacri- 
fice when  his  errand  is  performed.f  These  analogies 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  the  nameless  being  of  Mo- 
hammed's vision  also  to  be  an  angel.  So  he  is  called 
by  the  interpreters,  and  later  by  Mohammed  himself. 
But  I  suspect  that  in  the  original  meaning  of  this 
sura,  the  one  Mighty  in  power  is  Allah  HimseK.  If, 
however,  Mohammed  did  not  clearly  distinguish  be- 
tween Allah  and  His  Angel,  we  have  another  Biblical 
resemblance.  For,  as  we  know,  the  Old  Testament 
presents  the  Angel  of  Yahweh  speaking  and  acting 
like  Yahweh  Himself. 

In  his  later  revelations  Mohammed  speaks  dis- 
tinctly of  the  angel  who  is  sent  to  him.  In  one  in- 
stance only  is  this  angel  called  Gabriel :  "  Say  to 
them  :  Who  is  the  enemy  of  Gabriel  ?  It  is  he  who 
brought  down  [the  revelation]  to  thy  heart  by  the 
*Gon.  22"-  ^K  fJ^idg.  W^. 


184  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

command  of  God,  to  confirm  what  was  before  re- 
vealed, a  guidance  and  good  tidings  to  the  behev- 
ers."  "  We  recall  that  Gabriel  is  the  messenger  of 
God  both  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  New.  That 
it  was  New  Testament  influence,  rather  than  Old,  which 
led  Mohammed  to  adopt  him  is  evident  from  this  very 
passage.  The  Jews  had  the  theory  that  Gabriel  was 
the  angel  sent  with  bad  tidings  to  Israel,  while  the 
bringer  of  good  tidings  was  Michael.  They  therefore 
refused  to  accept  Mohammed,  or  rather  made  this 
the  ostensible  ground  of  their  refusal.  Had  he  been 
under  Jewish  influence  he  would  have  called  the  an- 
gel Michael  rather  than  Gabriel. 

We  must  note  again  that  Mohammed  in  some  cases 
attributes  his  revelations  to  the  Spirit :  "  This  is  a 
revelation  of  the  Lord  of  the  Ages  with  which  the 
faithful  spirit  came  down  into  thy  heart  that  thou 
shouldst  be  one  of  the  warners ; "  "  The  spirit  of 
holiness  brought  it  down  from  thy  Lord  in  truth  to 
strengthen  those  who  believe."  f  As  Mohammed  re- 
fused to  adopt  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  he  could 
have  no  idea  of  the  Spirit  as  a  distinct  person  of  the 
Godhead.  He  seems  to  have  wavered  between  the 
conception  that  the  Spirit  is  one  of  the  angels,  and 
the  conception  that  it  is  an  influence  carried  by  the 
angels  to  the  prophets.  The  variations  in  his  doctrine 
do  not  concern  us  here.  All  that  we  need  to  bear  in 
mind  is,  that  he  had  adopted  the  Biblical  teaching — 
that  the  Spirit  is  the  Ptevealer — so  far  as  this  doc- 
trine agreed  with  his  theology  in  general. 

The  fact  once  established  in  his  mind  that  he  was 

*  Koran,  2^\  t2G'9^f,  1G">\ 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHECY  185 

commissioned  as  a  Prophet,  Mohammed  drew  certain 
inferences,  which  became  important  parts  of  his  sys- 
tem, and  w^hich  we  cannot  ignore  in  treating  his  doc- 
trine of  revelation.     The  first  of  these  was  that  by 
his  call  he  became  one  in  the  line  of  prophets  and 
religious  leaders,  of  which  the  world  had  already  seen 
several.     This  point  has  been  already  touched  upon 
in  our  discussion  of   the  narrative   material   in  the 
Koran.     As  we  there  saw,  the  characters  most  prom- 
inently in  his  mind  were  the  great  founders  of  relig- 
ion, Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Jesus.    These  formed 
the  chain  of  which  now,  by  his  election,  he  became 
the  concluding  link.     It  went  with  this  that  his  relig- 
ion was  not  new.     He  only  claimed  to  reproduce  what 
had  been  revealed  to  his  predecessors.     Every  relig- 
ious movement  seems  naturally  to  seek  itself  in  the 
past.     Thus  the  Hebrews  sav>^  faith  exemplified   in 
Noah  and  Abraham ;  Judaism  claimed  Moses  as  its 
founder;  the   Apostles   pointed  back  to  David  and 
Isaiah:  the  Reformers  renewed  the  Christiauitv  of 
the  Apostles.     Mohammed's  coui'se  is  parallel  with 
these.     And,  like  them,  he  tried  to  link  his  religion 
with  earlier  ones  not  only  by  his  renewal  of  their 
principles,  but  by  their  supposed  prophecies  of  him. 
This  claim — that   he  was   predicted   in   the   earlier 
Scriptures — is   unmistakably,   though   not   very  fre- 
quently, put  forward  in  the  Koran.     In  a  compara- 
tively late  sura  we  find  :  "  Jesus  the  son  of  Mary  said  : 
O,  Children  of  Israel,  verily  I  am  the  Apostle  of  God 
to  you  confirming  the  Tora  which  you  already  have, 
and  bringing  tidings  of  an  Apostle  to  come  after  mo 
whose  name  is  Ahmed."*     In   another   place  he  is 

*Kornn.  r,l«. 


186  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

spoken  of  as  "  tlie  vernacular  ^  propliet  whom  they 
find  described  in  their  own  [books],  in  the  Tora  and 
the  GospeL"  What  predictions  Mohammed  himself 
had  in  mind  in  these  declarations  seems  impossible 
to  make  out.  The  Arabic  commentators  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  refer  to  him  all  the  Messianic  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  Messianic  hope,  as  we  know, 
did  not  cease  with  the  coming  of  Christ,  and  we  can 
scarcely  wonder  that  Mohammed  applied  it  to  him- 
self. For  the  words  of  Jesus  which  he  claims  in  the 
passage  quoted,  tradition  points  to  the  promise  of 
the  Paraclete  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  It  is  significant 
that  this  promise  had  already  been  appropriated  by 
3Ia7ii,-f  for  there  are  some  indications  that  Moham- 
med got  his  Christianity  from  a  heretical  source. 
"What  interests  us  here  is  not  the  particular  passage 
in  the  Prophet's  mind,  but  the  general  claim  that  ho 
was  not  only  the  legitimate  successor  of  the  earlier 
Messengers  of  God,  but  was  also  foreseen  and  expect- 
ed by  them  as  the  "  seal "  or  culmination  of  their 
mission. 

Another  inference  from  the  firmly  held  belief  that 
he  was  a  prophet,  is  prominently  put  forward  in  the 

*  The  translation  is  only  probable.  Mohammed  elsewhere  em- 
phasizes the  fact  that  he  brings  an  Arabic  revelation.  The  refer- 
ence here  is  7'^^  For  a  discussion  of  the  passages  of  Scripture  ap- 
plied by  Moslems  to  Mohammed  cf.  Brockelmann,  "  Muhammed- 
anische  Weissagungen  im  Alten  Testament,"  Z. A. T.W.,  XV.  pp. 
138  ff.,  312,  with  remarks  by  Bacher,  ibid.^  p.  309;  also  Goldziher, 
Z.D.M.G.,  XLII.,  and  Revue  des  Etudes  Juives^  XXX.,  pp.  1-23. 
One  Mohammedan  author  finds  no  less  than  fifty-one  prophecies  of 
Islam  in  the  Bible. 

t  Cf.  Herzog,  P.R.E.2,  IX.,  p.  231.  The  passage  in  John  is  cited 
by  Ibn  Ishak,  cf.  Weil's  Ihn  J/ischam^  I.,  p.  112. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHEGT  187 

Koran,  to  wit :  that  his  revelation,  as  embodied  in 
the  Koran,  is  the  same  in  substance  with  the  sacred 
books  which  had  preceded.  Kemember  that  he  made 
the  Book  an  abstraction.  He  made  it  at  least  an  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  entity,  not  a  material  thing  of 
paper  and  ink.  His  revelations  were  generally  writ- 
ten down,  to  be  sure ;  they  were  collected  at  last 
from  fragments  of  papyrus  and  parchment  and  bones, 
but  also  from  the  breasts  of  men.  The  record  upon 
which  Mohammed  relied  however  was  the  memory  of 
his  followers.  Nevertheless  he  regarded  his  detached 
fragments  as  parts  of  a  transcendental  unity  which 
he  called  the  Book,  and  whose  real  existence  was  in 
heaven. 

Looking  more  narrowly  at  what  he  says  of  this 
Book,  we  discover  that  he  has  combined  two  concep- 
tions originally  separate.  In  connection  with  the 
great  thought  of  the  judgment,  he  had  adopted  the 
theory  of  a  book  of  record  kept  in  heaven.  In  the  early 
suras  there  are  several  references  to  this  book,  which 
seems  to  be  either  a  record  of  actions  or  a  record  of 
names."^  It  needed  only  a  little  expansion  of  this  to 
make  the  book  a  book  of  fate  containing  the  whole 
of  God's  will  for  all  history.  But  a  book  of  God  was 
also  revealed  to  the  Jews  and  Christians.  They  meant 
by  it,  to  be  sure,  an  earthly  codex.  Yet  the  earthly 
codex  might  be  but  the  transcript  of  a  heavenly  orig- 
inal. According  to  Jewish  tradition,f  the  Tora  was 
created  before  the  creation  of  the  heavens  and  the 

*  Koran,  78'^^-2',  83^-9-  '^-so, 

f  Midrasch  Bereschith  Rahha  (Wiinsclic),  p.  31.      And  cf.  Weber, 
AHsijnagogale  Theologic,  p.  14. 


188  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

earth.  Indeed  we  see  that  the  natural  implication 
of  the  phrase  Book  of  God  is  that  the  original  is  writ- 
ten in  heaven.  The  inference  was  made  by  Moham- 
med :  "  This  is  a  noble  Koran,  in  a  carefully  guarded 
book,  touched  only  by  the  pure,  a  revelation  from  the 
Lord  of  the  Ages."  ^ 

Mohammed's  conception  therefore  may  be  defined 
as  follows  :  there  is  a  great  book  of  God's  decrees, 
written  in  heaven.  From  this  book,  portions  are  sent 
down  to  the  successive  prophets.  These  are  the 
parts  of  the  Book  fitted  for  the  guidance  of  men  into 
true  faith,  true  worship,  and  right  conduct.  The 
Pentateuch,  the  Gosj^el,  and  the  Koran,  are  all  ex- 
tracts from  this  original.  They  are  therefore  identical 
in  substance,  and  one  corroborates  the  other.  One 
of  the  earliest  of  Mohammed's  revelations  alludes  to 
the  rolls  of  Abraham  and  Moses,  as  containing  a 
warning  similar  to  the  one  just  delivered  by  him- 
self. It  is  unnecessary  to  suppose,  with  Sprenger, 
that  there  is  a  reference  here  to  pseudepigrapha 
which  circulated  under  these  titles.  The  Pentateuch 
might  well  be  described  under  the  name  of  the  roll  of 
Abraham  or  the  roll  of  Moses.  In  later  passages  we 
find  it  distinctly  said  that  the  Koran  confirms  the 
preceding  revelations  :  "  Before  this  was  the  Book 
of  Moses,  a  guide  and  a  gift  of  grace,  and  this  [Koran] 
is  a  book  which  asserts  the  truth  [of  the  other]  in 
Arabic,  that  it  m.ay  warn  the  evil-doers."  f  The  atti- 
tude of  the  Prophet  is  well  brought  out  in  what  he  is 
commanded  to  say  to  the  Jews  of  Medina  who  per- 

"  Koran.  56-«•'^  of.  85^'-  ^,  80'^  f^ 
t  4G",  cf.  2^^  G-'-,  12''S  3o•^«^ 


REVELATION  AND  PROPIIEGY  189 

sisted  in  asking  liim  troublesome  questions  about  the 
Tora  :  "  Say  to  tliem  :  We  believe  in  God  and  what 
is  revealed  to  us,  and  in  what  was  revealed  to  Abra- 
ham and  Ishmael  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  the  [twelve] 
tribes,  and  in  what  Moses  and  Jesus  and  the  Prophets 
received  from  their  Lord.  We  make  no  difference 
between  them  and  we  are  resigned  to  Him."  ■^'  Al- 
though Koran  was  the  proper  name  of  the  portion 
revealed  to  him,  he  seems  in  one  instance  to  call  the 
whole  body  of  revealed  books  by  this  name.  This  is 
where  he  denounces  the  dividers  luJio  make  the  Koran 
parts.  The  most  natural  explanation  of  the  words  is 
that  they  refer  to  the  Jews  and  Christians  who,  by 
rejecting  the  later  while  accepting  the  earlier  revela- 
tion, put  asunder  what  Mohammed  joined  together. 

The  theory  of  Mohammed  is  a  perfectly  consistent 
one,  and  when  he  had  formulated  it,  he  did  not  waver. 
The  Jews,  we  may  well  believe,  made  strenuous  ef- 
forts to  convict  him  of  error,  in  that  he  represented 
their  Tora  to  be  identical  with  his  revelations.  The 
only  effect  on  his  mind  was  to  strengthen  the  con"vic- 
tion  of  their  obstinacy  and  deceit.  We  wonder  a 
little  that  he  did  not  take  more  pains  to  acquaint 
himself  with  the  exact  contents  of  Tora  and  Gospel. 
Yet  not  a  few  theologians,  before  his  time  and  since, 
have  been  willing  to  rest  in  their  a  priori  system,  and 
have  ignored  or  denied  those  facts  which  conflicted 
with  it.  The  attitude  of  Mohammed  is  seen  in  the 
anecdote  that  Omar  brought  a  Pentateuch  to  Mo- 
hammed and  offered  to  read  out  of  it.  The  anger  of 
the  Prophet  appeared  in  his  face  and  Omar  desisted, 

*  Koran,  3^". 


190  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

saying  :  "  God  protect  me  from  the  anger  of  God  and 
His  Apostle  !  It  suffices  me  tliat  God  is  my  Cberislier, 
and  Islam  my  religion,  and  Mohammed  my  prophet." 
Then  Mohammed  said:  "If  Moses  were  alive  and 
knew  my  prophecy  he  would  follow  me."  '^  The  posi- 
tion of  Mohammed  is  quite  intelligible.  The  princi- 
ples of  Islam  were  established;  for  the  faith  of  its 
disciples  the  confirmation  of  these  principles  from 
the  Bible  was  unnecessary.  On  the  other  hand  the 
facts  might  he  inconvenient.  On  either  view,  it  was 
best  to  let  well  enough  alone. 

It  was  not  the  facts  of  the  older  Scriptures  alone 
that  were  troublesome.  The  Koran  itself  did  not  al- 
ways seem  to  bear  out  the  character  given  it.  It  could 
not  be  expected  that  a  collection  of  occasional  leaflets, 
published  at  intervals  during  more  than  twenty  years, 
should  be  free  from  inconsistencies  or  even  contra- 
dictions. Such  inconsistencies  were  admitted  by 
Mohammed  himself.  Some  of  them  he  removed  by 
erasure.  In  some  cases  he  laid  the  blame  on  his  own 
memory,  and  once  he  confessed  that  Satan  had  mis- 
led him.  Finally  he  declared  that  God  abrogated 
some  regulations  by  later  enactments.f  It  is  possible 
that  the  theory  of  abrogation  was  at  first  invented  to 
account  for  discrepancies  between  the  Bible  and  the 
Koran.  Two  of  the  passages  which  state  the  theory 
are  in  a  context  which  has  to  do  with  the  Jews ;  and 
the  thought  in  Mohammed's  mind  seems  to  have  been 
something  like  this :  "  Should  the  Jews  object  that 

*  Mishcat^  I.,  p.  53. 

t  Tlie  tlieory,  with  a  list  of  the  abrogated  verses,  is  given  in 
Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam^  p.  520. 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHEGT  191 

this  revelation  does  not  agree  with  theirs,  we  reply 
that  God  is  able  to  erase  parts  of  His  revelation — He 
may  do  what  He  will  with  His  own."  The  theory 
once  accepted  was  a  welcome  recourse,  when  dis- 
crepancies came  to  light  in  the  Koran  itself.* 

It  seems  strange  to  us  that  Mohammed  made  no 
forecast  of  the  future.  One  would  suppose  that  the 
experience  v\^hich  led  him  to  abrogate  regulations 
only  a  few  years  old,  would  show  him  that  other  laws 
tvould  need  to  be  modified  after  his  death.  But  this 
seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  him.  The  necessities 
of  the  hour  absorbed  his  thoughts.  In  the  main,  no 
doubt,  he  felt  that  the  principles  laid  do^vn  by  him 
would  be  a  sufficient  guide  for  all  time  to  come.  It 
must  be  remembered  also  that  he  gave  tradition  a 
part  in  the  regulation  of  his  commimity.  In  this  re- 
spect he  never  took  the  Protestant  position  which 
makes  the  Scriptures  the  exclusive  arbiter  in  matters 
of  faith  and  life.  He  would  have  accepted,  rather,  the 
rule  of  the  early  Church  in  which  Apostolic  tradition 
had  so  large  a  part. 

Koran  and  tradition  together  make  up  the  infallible 
rule  of  faith  and  practice  in  the  Moslem  Church.  Of 
the  two  parts,  the  Koran  must  always  have  the  first 
place — a  clear  sentence  in  the  Koran,  unless  it  is  one 

*  The  Koran  passages  are  2^°°,  IS^^  f,  both  of  which  are  in  con- 
nection with  allusions  to  the  earlier  revelations.  A  tradition  gives 
a  Koran  verse  which  was  not  only  abrogated  but  obliterated — Bo- 
chari^  III.,  p.  190.  The  fact  that  the  Tora  did  not  contain  some 
things  wliich  ought  to  be  in  it  on  his  theory,  Mohammed  explains 
by  saying  tliat  tlie  Jews  concealed  them  from  the  Moslems ;  "  Our 
Apostle  has  come  to  you  revealing  a  great  part  of  what  you  are  ac- 
customed to  conceal  of  the  Book."  5'^. 


192  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tliat  lias  been  abrogated  by  another  sentence  in  tlie 
Koran,  is  decisive.  This  position  of  arbiter  is  parallel 
to  what  is  asserted  of  the  older  revelation  :  "  We  sent 
down  the  Tora  as  a  guide  and  a  light ;  by  it  the  pious 
prophets  judged  the  Jews ;  and  the  Rabbis  and  the 
Scribes  [still]  judge  by  what  is  committed  to  them  of 
the  Book  of  God,  and  are  witnesses  concerning  it." 
Mohammed  goes  on  to  give  a  summary  of  the  Old 
Testament  lex  talionis  and  adds :  "  And  whoever  does 
not  judge  by  what  God  has  revealed,  these  are  the 
wicked."  *  A  little  later  in  the  same  chapter  Jesus 
is  said  to  have  received  the  Gospel — "that  the  peo- 
ple of  the  Gospel  should  judge  by  what  God  re- 
vealed." Then  comes  Mohammed,  who  also  has  re- 
ceived a  book  and  who  is  exhorted  thus  :  "  Then  judge 
between  them  by  what  God  has  revealed,  and  do  not 
follow  their  desires,  turning  away  from  what  has 
come  to  thee  of  the  truth.  To  each  of  you  we  have 
given  a  law  and  a  plain  path."  f 

This  declaration  puts  the  Koran  into  the  same  po- 
sition of  supreme  law  for  the  Moslem  which  the  Tora 
occupies  for  the  Jew,  and  which  the  Gospel  occupies 
for  the  Christian.  The  conception  of  the  revelation 
as  law  becomes  especially  prominent  in  the  later 
period  of  Mohammed's  life.  "We  can  readily  account 
for  this.  At  Medina  the  simple  warner  and  bringer 
of  tidings  had  become  the  theocratic  ruler  and  judge 
over  a  small  but  heterogeneous  community,  unused  to 
a  settled  form  of  government.  His  decisions,  there- 
fore, became  precedents  and  his  regulations  became 
laws.  These  were  embodied  in  the  Koran,  which, 
*  Koran,  5^"  f.  t  5^^ 


REVELATION  AND  PROrilECY  193 

in  this  period  differs  materially  in  character  from 
the  earlier  revelations.  The  later  suras  are  in  a 
sense  the  archives  of  the  infant  state.  "  The  con- 
duct of  the  disaffected,  the  treatment  of  allies,  the 
formation  of  treaties,  the  acceptance  of  terms  and 
other  political  matters  [now]  found  a  place  among  the 
divine  messages.  Liberality  in  contributing  toward 
the  expenses  of  war — the  only  object  requiring  a  public 
purse — is  continually  inculcated.  The  elements  of  a 
code  both  criminal  and  civil  are  also  introduced.  Pun- 
ishments for  certain  offences  are  specified,  and  a  mass 
of  legislation  [is]  laid  down  for  the  tutelage  of  orphans, 
for  marriage,  divorce,  sales,  bargains,  wills,  evidence, 
usur}^,  and  other  similar  concerns.  Further,  there 
are  copious  instructions  for  the  guidance  of  the  be- 
liever in  his  private  life  and  special  provisions  .  .  . 
regulating  the  intercourse  of  Mahomet  with  his  sub- 
jects and  with  his  own  family."  ^  This  occasional 
character  of  the  Koran  is  most  conspicuous  in  its  al- 
lusions to  the  experiences  of  Mohammed  himself. 
Many  of  these  are  interesting  for  the  glimpse  they 
give  us  into  the  heart  of  the  speaker ;  as  where  he 
betrays  his  great  anxiety  to  work  a  miracle.  Some  of 
them  are  comical ;  as  where  he  teaches  etiquette  to 
the  too  familiar  or  too  noisy  Bedawin  :  "  O,  Believers, 
do  not  lift  your  voices  above  the  voice  of  the  Prophet, 
and  do  not  shout  at  him  as  you  shout  at  each 
other ;  else  your  deeds  are  of  no  avail,  though  you 
know  it  not.  They  who  speak  low  in  the  presence 
of  the  Apostle  of  God,  these  are  they  whose  hearts 
God  has  disposed  toward  piety."  f    And  again  :  "  O, 

*  Muir,  Life  of  Mahomet,  III,,  205.  t  Koran,  49-  f. 

13 


194  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Believers,  do  not  enter  the  houses  of  the  Prophet 
except  he  invite  you  to  eat  with  him ;  and  do  so 
without  looking  at  his  furniture.  But  when  you  are 
invited,  then  enter ;  and  when  you  have  eaten,  then 
go  your  ways,  and  do  not  be  familiar  in  your  con- 
versation. This  pains  the  Prophet,  though  he  is 
ashamed  to  tell  you  ;  but  God  is  not  ashamed  of  the 
truth.  And  when  you  ask  anything  of  them  [that  is, 
his  wives],  ask  it  from  the  other  side  of  a  curtain — 
this  is  more  innocent  for  your  hearts  and  for  theirs. 
It  is  not  becoming  in  you  to  pain  the  Prophet,  nor 
to  marry  his  wives  after  his  death.  This  were  in 
the  sight  of  God  a  great  sin."  "^  To  bring  in  a  divine 
revelation  in  order  to  ease  the  jealous  heart  of  a  fond 
old  man,  seems  to  us  to  border  on  blasphemy.  And 
when  the  same  method  is  taken  to  justify  him  in 
violating  the  rule  which  he  had  himself  made  on  the 
subject  of  marriage,'!'  and  again  to  vindicate  his  fa- 
vorite wife  when  she  was  the  subject  of  scandal,  we 
are  shocked  and  disgusted. 

*  Koran,  33^"^.  The  houses  of  the  Prophet  were  a  row  of  huts 
around  a  court.  Each  wife  had  one,  and  Mohammed  dwelt  with 
them  by  turns. 

t  Mohammed  had  ordered  his  followers  to  take  not  more  than 
four  wives.  He  increased  his  own  hareem  to  nine  or  more  and 
justified  himself  by  a  revelation  (33^^).  He  was  seized  with  a  pas- 
sion for  the  wife  of  his  adopted  son  Zaid.  Zaid  divorced  her,  l)ut 
it  was  against  customary  morals  for  a  man  to  marry  the  divorced 
wife  of  an  adopted  son.  After  some  wavering,  Mohammed  com- 
manded himself  (in  a  revelation)  to  take  her;  and  of  course  he  thus 
set  aside  the  old  law  (33''^).  In  forbidding  remarriage  on  the  part 
of  the  widows  he  might  leave,  he  possibly  had  Jewish  precedent  in 
mind,  according  to  Sale,  Prelim.  Bis.,,  who  cites  Mishna  Sanhedrin, 
to  prove  that  the  Avidow  of  a  prince  should  not  remarry 


REVELATION  AND  PROPHEGT  195 

In  view  of  such  exhibitions  of  selfish  weakness,  our 
impulse  is  to  set  down  their  author  as  a  vulgar  im- 
postor, whose  aim  from  the  beginning  was  to  secure 
enjoyment  and  influence  by  a  forged  and  fraudulent 
revelation.  In  doing  this  we  should  easily  do  him 
an  injustice.  Even  these  exhibitions  of  weakness 
may  be  explained  as  the  defect  of  a  quality.  Mo- 
hammed had  placed  his  trust  in  Allah,  and  he  was 
convinced  that  Allah  had  distinguished  him  by  his 
favor.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  faith  to  believe  that 
God  loves  us  and  cares  for  us  individually.  One  of 
the  most  pleasing  suras  of  the  Koran  is  the  expres- 
sion of  this  faith : 

*  *  By  the  morning  ; 
By  the  night  when  it  grows  dark  ; 
Thy  Lord  has  not  forsaken  nor  rejected  thee  ; 
And  the  future  shall  be  better  than  the  past. 
Thy  Lord  will  give  thee  and  thou  shalt  be  satisfied. 
Did  He  not  find  thee  an  orphan  and  adopt  thee  ? 
And  find  thee  poor  and  enrich  thee  ? 
Then  do  not  oppress  the  orphan  ; 
And  do  not  repulse  the  one  who  asks  ; 
And  recount  the  mercies  of  thy  Lord. ' '  * 

In  a  mind  whose  early  moral  training  has  been  de- 
fective ^ve  can  see  that  such  a  faith  may  lead  to  self- 
deception.  It  is  to  be  feared  that  not  a  few  Chris- 
tians have  taken  virtually  the  position  of  Mohammed 
— that  God  so  loves  them  as  to  indulge  their  weak- 
nesses even  as  an  earthly  father  indulges  a  favorite 
child. 

To  pursue  this  subject  would  take  us  beyond  the 

*  Sura  93,  and  cf .  9 1. 


196  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

pro]3er  limits  of  this  inquiry.  We  are  here  investi- 
gating the  nature  of  the  influence  exerted  by  the 
Bible  on  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  For  the  sub- 
ject of  this  lecture  we  may  describe  this  influence  as 
follows : 

1.  Mohammed's  general  doctrine  of  revelation  was 
undoubtedly  derived  from  the  Bible.  The  doctrine 
is  that  God  reveals  His  will  to  chosen  men  who  are 
commanded  to  speak  for  Him,  and  who  are  called 
prophets  or  apostles. 

2.  The  revelation  which  the  prophet  receives  is 
brought  by  an  angel.  This  method  of  revelation, 
which  is  only  occasional  in  the  Bible,  is  made  the  rule 
by  Mohammed,  for  he  identifies  revelation  hy  the 
Spirit  with  this,  because  he  makes  the  Spirit  to  be 
an  angel.  In  some  cases  he  so  completely  adopts 
the  Biblical  view  that  he  gives  the  angel  of  revela- 
tion the  name  Gabriel. 

3.  He  speaks  always  (when  delivering  the  message 
revealed  to  him)  for  God,  using  the  pronoun  of  the 
first  person,  not  to  express  his  own  mind,  but  to  ex- 
press the  mind  of  God.  In  this  also  he  follows  Bibli- 
cal precedent,  where,  in  the  height  of  prophetic 
speech,  the  ego  of  the  prophet  disappears  before  the 
Higher  Ego."^  Here  also,  what  is  occasional  in  the 
Old  Testament  has  become  the  rule  with  Mohammed. 
That  the  cause  of  God  is  identified  with  the  cause  of 
the  prophet,  is  the  natural  consequence  of  this  view. 

And  in  this  connection  we  must  not  shut  our  eyes 
to  the  fact  that  God's  care  for  His  cause  is,  in  the  Old 
Testament,  extended  to  the  personal  affairs  of  the 
*  Ewald,  Propheten  dcs  Allen  Bundes  ^,  p.  33. 


REVELATION  AND  PIIOPIIECY  197 

prophet.  Jeremiah  was  informed  by  revelation  of 
the  inteucled  treachery  of  his  fellow-townsmen.  Sam- 
uel was  directed  by  revelation  in  making  use  of  a  sub- 
terfuge to  deceive  Saul,  and  thus  to  relieve  his  own 
fear.  God  identifies  Elisha  s  honor  with  His  own, 
and  where  the  prophet  relieves  his  feelings  with  a 
curse,  God  makes  the  curse  eifective  in  avenofiug  the 
insult.  Such  examples  show  that  Mohammed's  pre- 
sumption is  not  altogether  without  precedent. 

4.  The  revelation  received  by  the  prophet  is  re- 
garded by  Mohammed  as  a  transcript  from  a  heavenly 
original.  In  this  he  has  gone  farther  than  any  ex- 
press declaration  of  the  Bible,  but  it  is  not  unfair  to 
say  that  the  general  thought  is  Biblical.  Besides 
what  has  already  been  said,  we  may  notice  that  when 
Ezekiel  received  his  revelation,  a  roll  was  given  him 
by  a  heavenly  hand.  When  he  had  eaten  the  book 
(devoured  its  contents  we  should  say)  he  was  prepared 
to  speak  to  Israel.*  The  meaning  is  that  his  proph- 
ecy was  the  communication  of  a  heavenly  original. 
The  author  of  the  Apocalypse  has  a  similar  experi- 
ence in  vision.  On  the  basis  of  these  passages  the 
idea  of  a  heavenly  original,  of  which  revealed  books 
are  transcripts,  had  arisen  before  Mohammed.  Thus 
Enoch  has  the  heavenly  tablets  shown  him  in  which 
he  reads  "all  the  deeds  of  men  to  the  latest  genera- 
tions."f     He  is  then  able  to  embody  these  in  his  own 

*Ezek.  2'0,  S'--*. 

t  Das  Buck  Henoch^  von  Dillmann  (1853),  Kap.  81,  p.  51.  In  the 
Book  of  Jubilees  the  Bible  itself  seems  to  be  described  as  the 
lieavenly  tablets.  Cf.  Das  Buch  der  Juhilden^  Ewald,  Jahrbiicher, 
II.,  pp.  237,  256. 


198  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

book.  But  as  Moliammed's  idea  of  propliecy  is  more 
distinctly  Biblical  than  that  found  in  the  Book  of 
Enoch,  there  is  probably  no  direct  influence  here  to 
be  discovered. 

5.  The  sum  of  the  revelations  received  by  the 
prophet  makes  up  a  rule  of  faith  and  life.  This  idea 
is  also  Biblical ;  at  least,  this  is  the  point  of  view 
from  which  the  New  Testament  regards  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, though  it  at  the  same  time  formulates  a 
theory  of  abrogation  similar  to  the  one  forced  upon 
Mohammed. 

Mohammed,  therefore,  held  substantially  Biblical 
views  of  Revelation  and  Prophecy. 


LECTUEE  Vn. 

SIN  AND   SALVATION 

Some  years  ago  it  was  the  fashion  to  describe  the 
Protestant  Keformation  as  based  upon  two  principles. 
One  of  these— the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
as  the  rule  of  faith— was  called  the  formal  principle, 
the   other  —  justification   by   faith— was   called   the 
material  principle.     The  present  tendency  is  to  dis- 
miss this  definition  as  having  no  particular  yalue. 
But  I  have  the  impression  that  it  conveys  a  distinct 
truth  which  is  of  wider  application  than  is  given  it 
in  this  one  division  of  Church  History.     Every  re- 
ligion—  at  least   every   positive   religion — brings   a 
doctrine  to  which  it  demands  assent.    The  first  ques- 
tion which  its  preachers  must  answer  is  :  how  do  you 
know  the  doctrine  to  be  true  ?     But  no  religion  suc- 
ceeds without  bringing  more  than  a  doctrine.     Ee- 
ligion  must  satisfy  the  craving  of  the  heart,  as  well 
as  the  curiosity  of  the  intellect.     The  second  question 
Avhich  the  Apostles  of  any  religion  must  meet   is : 
what  good  do  you  bring? 

Now  the  answer  to  the  first  question  must  define 
the  source  of  doctrine.  In  the  Protestant  Eeforma- 
tion  this  source  was  defined  to  be  the  Holy  Script- 
ures in  their  natural  sense,  independent  of  the  tradi- 
tion of  the  Church.  The  answer  to  the  second  question 

199 


200  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

must  define  the  salvation  offered  by  the  preacher.  In 
the  Reformation  this  was  denned  as  justification  by 
faith  alone,  that  is,  the  grace  of  God  imparted  im- 
mediately to  the  believer,  not  conditioned  by  the 
Church's  ministration.  Without  pausing  to  inquire 
how  far  these  two  answers  are  correctly  labelled, 
formal  and  material^  let  us  notice  that  corresponding 
answers  are  given  in  Islam.  Mohammed  preached  a 
doctrine,  and  was  obliged  to  tell  where  he  got  it. 
This  he  did  in  his  assertion  of  divine  revelation  to 
himself,  at  the  same  time  justifying  his  claim  by  an 
appeal  to  the  earlier  prophets.  He  offered  also  an- 
other boon — salvation.  He  was  obliged  here  also  to 
define  his  position.  This  definition  forms  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  lecture. 

I  have  already  said  that  Mohammed  offered  salva- 
tion. Salvation  implies  something  from  which  one 
must  be  saved,  and  this  something  is,  of  course,  sin. 
The  doctrine  of  sin  must  be  treated  before  we  can 
understand  the  doctrine  of  salvation.  Our  starting- 
point  is  the  nature  of  man.  In  this  the  position  of 
the  Koran  is  very  simple  :  man  consists  of  a  material 
part,  the  body,  and  an  immaterial  part,  the  soul. 
This  was  taken  over  from  Arabic  heathenism,  where 
the  custom  of  offering  sacrifices  to  the  dead  implies  a 
continued  existence  of  the  soul  after  the  death  of  the 
body.  This  separate  existence  of  the  soul  however 
seems  to  have  been  conceived  of  as  shadowy  and  un- 
real— much  like  the  unsubstantial  and  unsatisfying 
state  in  which  the  Old  Testament  pictures  the  inhab- 
itants of  Sheol.  It  was  because  this  conception 
failed  to  meet  his  idea  of  the  future  state,  that  Mo- 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  201 

hammed  laid  so  much  emphasis  on  the  resurrection. 
His  leading  thought  was  the  thought  of  the  Judgment 
Day.  But  a  judgment  which  should  deal  only  with 
the  unsubstantial  incorporeal  shades  would  be  itself 
unsubstantial  and  shadowy.  The  thought  of  the  Judg- 
ment is  necessarily  accompanied  by  the  thought  of 
the  Resurrection — thus  only  does  it  become  a  reality. 
"With  the  restored  body,  the  whole  man  meets  his 
Maker,  and  both  parts  of  his  nature  are  punished  or 
rewarded  for  that  for  which  both  parts  are  respon- 
sible. 

This  matter  interests  us  here  onlv  so  far  as  it 
throws  light  on  the  nature  of  man.  At  the  beginning 
of  his  career,  Mohammed  found  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  necessary,  because  he  had  difficulty  in 
conceiving  the  independent  existence  of  the  soul.  It 
seems  as  if  the  doctrine  helped  him  in  this  respect  so 
that  he  was  able  partly  to  dispense  with  it  in  his 
later  teaching.  What  I  mean  is,  not  that  he  ever 
gave  up  the  resurrection  or  wavered  in  regard  to  it ; 
but  that  when  he  had  accustomed  himself  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection,  the  soul  itself  had  more  con- 
sistency, it  began  to  stand  more  distinctly  for  the 
man.  He  never  seems  to  have  been  troubled  by  the 
question  where  the  soul  resides  during  the  interval 
between  death  and  the  resurrection.  Tradition  has 
indeed  busied  itself  with  this  question,  as  we  should 
expect.  But  the  Koran  has  no  intimation  of  a 
middle  state,  such  as  we  should  find  had  it  been  a 
matter  of  importance  in  the  mind  of  Mohammed. 

After  the  battles  of  Islam  began,  we  find  a  distinct 
assurance  that  the  souls  of  believers  enter  at  once  on 


202  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

the  joys  of  paradise.  This  implies,  of  course,  that 
the  soul  is  capable  of  its  full  life  apart  from  the  body. 
The  resurrection  therefore  would  seem  to  be  super- 
fluous. The  soul  is  the  man  and  can  dispense  with 
the  body,  as  it  does  in  death  and  even  in  sleep.*  Be- 
cause the  soul  is  the  man  it  may  be  spoken  of  when 
the  whole  man  is  meant. 

The  souls  which  tremble  in  the  day  of  judgment 
are  the  souls  reclothed  with  their  bodies,  that  is,  the 
persons.  When  it  is  said  that  every  soul  shall  taste 
of  death,  evidently  every  human  being  is  meant.  The 
soal  being  the  active  principle,  is  that  which  desires 
good  or  eviljt  just  as  in  Hebrew ;  the  word  for  soul 
is,  in  fact,  the  same  in  the  two  languages. 

A  close  parallel  with  the  Hebrew  also  is  the  Arabic 
connection  of  the  soul  and  the  heart.  The  heart  is 
the  seat  of  the  soul — not  the  affections  only,  but  the 
intellect  as  well.  What  may  be  predicated  of  the  soul 
may  be  predicated  equally  of  the  heart.  Thus  :  the 
soul  believes,  or  the  man  believes  with  the  heart..]: 
The  heart  is  terrified  ;  it  is  the  seat  of  the  intelli- 
gence. God  seals  or  covers  the  hearts  so  that  men 
do  not  understand  ;  the  hearts  of  believers  find  peace 
in  remembering  God.§  You  will  already  have  no- 
ticed the  great  similarity  between  these  affirmations 

*  In  6""  God  is  said  to  take  the  souls  in  the  night  (that  is,  in  sleep) 
with  the  same  language  with  which  the  angels  are  said  to  take  the 
souls  at  death,  C'',  cf.  also  39^^.  Those  who  have  heen  slain  in 
battle  for  the  good  cause  cannot  be  called  dead — they  are  the  truly 
living,  though  beyond  our  sight,  2"». 

t  Koran  53-^,  AV\ 

X  10'%  IG''"^. 

§  50 'S  15' \  C-S  13-8. 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  203 

and  the  language  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  not 
probable,  however,  that  there  was  direct  dependence. 
The  simple  psychology  was  common  to  Hebrew  and 
to  Ai'abic  thought  before  the  rise  of  Islam. 

The  result  which  we  have  reached  is  important  for 
our  present  inquiry  in  two  ways.  First,  there  is  no 
trichotomy  in  man  according  to  the  Koran  ;  secondly, 
the  seat  of  sin  is  not  the  body  alone. 

There  is  no  clear  indication  of  a  trichotomy  in  man. 
It  is  indeed  said  that  man's  life  or  soul  is  derived 
from  the  spirit  of  God.  God  Himself  says  to  the 
angels :  "  I  am  about  to  make  man  of  clay,  and  when 
I  have  formed  him  and  breathed  into  him  of  my  spirit, 
then  bow  down  to  him."*  In  adopting  this  Biblical 
language,  Mohammed  was  probably  ignorant  of  the 
Christian  speculation,  which  would  see  in  it  author- 
ity for  a  third  element  of  the  human  personality,  dif- 
ferent from  body  and  soul.  He  speaks  of  the  crea- 
tion of  animals  in  language  similar  to  what  was  just 
quoted,  where  he  says  that  Jesus  made  birds  of  clay 
and  breathed  into  them  so  that  they  became  alive. f 
Mohammed  seems  to  conceive  of  the  breathing  as  tlie 
method  of  introducing  life  into  the  creature.  He  no- 
where speaks  of  the  sinrit  of  man.  In  this  respect 
the  Mohammedan  theologians  have  gone  beyond 
their  master,  and  have  learned  from  the  Christians  to 
distinguish  between  the  spirit  and  the  soul  of  man.:j: 
But  this  is  foreign  to  the  Koran,  which  knows  but  one 
immaterial  part  of  man — the  soul,  which  has  its  seat 
in  the  heart. 


110 


*  Koran  32^  cf.  15-%  38^'^  fo' 

JMy  wisdom  comes  from  Lane,  Arabic  Lexicon,  p   2827. 


204  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  doctrine  that  the  soul  is  the  man,  precludes 
the  idea  that  sin  is  the  evil  of  the  body — or  that  the 
flesh  is  the  seat  of  sin.  This  is  not  contradicted  by 
the  prominence  given  to  the  desires  as  a  source  of 
sin,  for  the  desires  pertain  to  the  soul.  Oriental 
speculation  on  this  subject  seems  not  to  have  reached 
Mohammed.  If  it  reached  him,  it  made  no  impres- 
sion upon  him.  In  fact,  as  we  have  had  occasion  to 
remark,  he  was  no  philosopher  or  speculative  theo- 
logian. The  problem  which  confronted  him  was  a 
practical  problem.  Before  him,  scattered  individuals 
throughout  the  tribes — the  Hanifs  already  alluded 
to — had  labored  with  it  as  a  practical  problem.  They 
sought  a  peace  of  conscience  which  the  rites  of  hea- 
thenism could  not  give.  Mohammed's  interest  was  no 
other.  In  him  as  in  them,  the  sense  of  sin  was  aroused 
experimentally.  Hence  came  the  long  practice  of 
prayer  and  ascetic  exercises  in  the  cave  of  Hira. 
When  he  found  assurance,  he  found  it  in  the  sense 
of  pardon.  The  fact  of  sin  and  ill  desert  was  not 
thereby  abolished ;  it  was  rather  established.  The 
thought  of  the  Day  of  Judgment  took  strong  hold 
upon  him,  just  because  he  so  strongly  realized  the  fact 
of  sin  in  himself.  What  he  experienced  in  himself 
he  observed  in  others.  The  call  to  preach,  of  which 
he  was  so  vividly  conscious,  was  based  upon  the  con- 
viction that  his  contemporaries  were  in  sin  and  under 
the  wrath  of  God. 

On  the  basis  of  his  personal  experience  Mohammed 
believed  in  the  universality  of  sin.  He  transferred 
his  own  experience  to  other  men  and  classed  them 
with  liiaiseli.     This  we  conclude  from   indirect   in- 


Sm  AND  SALVATION  205 

timations  rather  tlian  from  express  affirmations  of 
tlie  Koran.  He  nowhere  asserts  categorically  the 
sinfulness  of  the  whole  race.  He  had  to  do  wdth  a 
condition,  not  a  theory.  In  a  tradition  he  is  report- 
ed as  saying :  '*  There  is  not  of  the  sons  of  Adam  ex- 
cept Mary  and  her  Son,  one  born  but  is  touched  by 
the  devil  at  the  time  of  his  birth  ;  and  the  child  makes 
a  loud  noise  from  the  touch."  ^  The  tradition  is 
doubtless  influenced  by  some  theory  of  natural  de- 
prayity.  But  it  does  not  affirm  the  transmission  of 
sin  from  father  to  son — the  idea  is  rather  that  from 
the  moment  of  birth  every  human  being  is  assailed 
by  Satan.  The  universality  of  actual  transgression 
does  not  necessarily  follow\ 

It  is  in  fact  rather  remarkable  that  Mohammed 
should  so  fully  adopt  the  Biblical  account  of  the  sin 
of  Adam,  and  yet  not  connect  with  it  the  doctrine  of 
the  corruption  of  the  race.  Let  me  hasten  to  say 
that  he  does  not  show  any  closer  adherence  to  the 
letter  of  the  Bible  in  this  than  in  the  other  Biblical 
narratives,  in  fact  the  departures  are  rather  more  no- 
ticeable in  this  than  in  the  others.  His  account  is  to 
the  effect  that  Adam  and  his  wdfe  were  created  of 
clay  and  placed  in  the  Garden  of  Paradise,  wdiich  is 
in  heaven.  God  commands  the  angels  to  bow  dow^n 
to  Adam  as  His  vicegerent.  All  obey  except  Iblis, 
who  refuses  on  the  ground  that  Adam  is  his  inferior. 
Iblis  is  then  expelled  from  the  Garden  because  of  his 
arrogance,  but  receives  permission  to  act  as  the 
tempter  of  man.  Adam  and  his  wife  are  commanded 
not  to  eat  of  one  tree  in  the  Garden,  and  are  w'arned 

*  Mishcat,  I  ,  p.  23, 


206  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

asjainst  tlie  wiles  of  Satan.  Nevertheless  Satan  in- 
sinuates  that  the  tree  is  forbidden  to  them  because, 
if  they  eat,  they  will  become  angels  or  immortal.  So 
they  eat,  and  both  tempter  and  tempted  are  cast  down 
to  earth  to  live  in  mutual  enmity  until  the  day  of  final 
doom.  The  story,  which  is  given  several  times  in  the 
Koran,  may  be  said  to  embody  Mohammed's  theory 
of  the  origin  of  sin.  This  was  to  him  a  very  simple 
matter — sin  is  disobedience  to  the  commands  of  God. 
It  came  into  being  when  the  pride  of  Iblis  revolted 
against  a  command  of  God.  It  was  transmitted  from 
Iblis  to  Adam  by  way  of  suggestion,  and  in  him  its 
essence  was  disobedience  to  the  command  of  God. 
That  Adam  was  originally  endowed  with  holiness  and 
lost  it  in  his  fall,  is  nowhere  affirmed.  No  more  is 
such  a  solidarity  of  the  race  affirmed  or  assumed  as 
would  make  all  mankind  sin  in  Adam  and  fall  with 
him  in  his  first  transgression. 

Although  we  find  no  theory  of  an  organic  connection 
between  the  sin  of  Adam  and  the  sinfulness  of  the  race, 
yet  the  story  of  the  first  man  is  not  unmeaning.  It  is 
an  example  of  the  universal  experience.  All  men  are 
subject  to  temptation.  This  comes  from  their  desires. 
We  read  of  the  wicked :  "  In  their  hearts  is  a  disease, 
and  God  increases  their  disease  "  ;  *  and  again :  "  Evil 
is  that  which  their  souls  have  put  before  them."  t  In 
this  passage  the  soul  seems  put  for  the  desires,  as  we 
find  it  also  in  the  old  Testament.  In  the  account 
given  of  Joseph  the  hero  himself  confesses  that  "  the 
soul  inclines  to  evil  except  my  Lord  have  mercy."  :j: 
Elsewhere  Mohammed  is  warned  against  him  who 

*  Korean  2^  t  5^^  \  12"^^ 


Sm  AND  SALVATION  207 

follows  his  inclination ;  and  virtue  is  said  to  consist 
in  restraining  the  soul  from  its  inclination."^'  These 
passages  show  that  Mohammed  was  not  far  from  the 
New  Testament  treatment  of  concupiscence  as  the  root 
of  sin.     When  desire  conceives,  it  brings  forth  sin. 

These  desires  are  stimulated  by  the  allurements  of 
the  world  and  the  suggestions  of  Satan.  In  the  great 
Day,  men  and  jinn  will  be  asked :  "  Did  there  not 
come  to  you  Apostles  from  your  own  number,  repeat- 
ing to  you  My  revelations  and  warning  you  of  this 
day  ?  They  will  say :  We  testify  against  ourselves — 
the  life  of  the  world  beguiled  us."  f  The  result  of 
the  natural  constitution  of  things  is  that  men  go 
astray.  In  this  view  of  it,  it  is  entirely  correct  to 
speak  of  the  lost  estate  of  man.  But  this  is  not  due 
to  the  sin  of  Adam. 

We  have  already  noticed  instances  in  which  frcidi- 
Hon  shows  a  nearer  approach  to  Christian  theology 
than  we  find  in  the  Koran.  This  is  illustrated  in  the 
subject  before  us.  Mohammed  is  said  to  have  re- 
lated a  legend  concerning  Adam  and  to  have  added  : 
"  So  Adam  denied  and  his  children  have  inherited 
this  vice :  and  Adam  forgot  and  ate  of  the  tree,  and 
his  children  have  inherited  forgetfulness  from  him  ; 
and  Adam  committed  a  fault  and  his  childi'en  inlier- 
ited  crimes  from  him."  t  This  goes  beyond  nnj- 
thing  in  the  Koran  in  its  assertion  of  inherited  de- 
pravity, and  we  are  compelled  to  suppose  that  it  is 
colored  by  the  views  of  the  traditionist.  We  find  also 
a  story  in  the  biographies  which  has  obtained  cur- 
rency in  most  modern  accounts  of  Mohammed  to  this 

*  Koran  18^^  79'".  f  G'^o.  +  Mishcat,  I.,  p.  35. 


208  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

effect :  When  the  Prophet  was  an  infant  (in  another 
form  of  the  story  when  he  was  twelve  years  old),  two 
angels  cut  open  his  breast  and  took  out  his  heart 
which  they  washed  with  snow  and  then  restored  to 
his  bosom.  The  story  in  this  form  is  undoubtedly 
meant  to  teach  that  the  infant's  heart  was  thus  cleansed 
of  hereditary  depravity.  But  we  are  able  to  say  that 
the  story  in  this  form  is  comparatively  late.  As  first 
told,  it  was  connected  not  with  the  Prophet's  infancy 
but  with  the  beginning  of  his  ministry.  In  this  form 
it  meant  only  that  when  God  called  Mohammed,  He 
cleansed  him  from  the  guilt  of  his  former  sins — es- 
pecially from  the  idolatry  which  he  had  practised  in 
his  earlier  life.  In  this  form  we  cannot  find  any  ref- 
erence to  the  doctrine  of  original  sin. 

The  origin  of  sin  is  in  the  conflict  between  the  nat- 
ural desires  of  men  and  the  command  of  God.  "  The 
truth  [has  come]  from  your  Lord ;  whoever  will,  let 
him  believe,  and  whoever  will,  let  him  disbelieve."  * 
Whether  the  light  of  nature  is  enough  to  induce  obe- 
dience we  are  not  told.  In  practice  the  command  of 
God  comes  through  the  prophets.  The  sin  which  is 
in  the  world  is  disobedience  to  these  commands. 
Those  who  disobey,  following  the  allurements  of  the 
world  or  of  Satan,  are  lost.  To  realize  how  much 
this  word  meant  to  Mohammed  we  must  picture  to 
oui'selves  the  condition  of  the  traveller  in  the  desert. 
The  pathless  waste  stretches  out  on  every  hand.  The 
wells  are  few  and  hidden  in  the  sand.  The  pitiless 
sun  burns  upon  him  from  above  and  the  heated  soil 
scorches  his  feet  from  below.     The  scanty  water-skins 

*  Koran  W\ 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  209 

are  soon  exhausted.  Unless  some  friendly  hand  point 
the  way  to  water,  the  caravan  must  lie  down  and  die. 
Such  is  the  condition  of  man  in  the  present  world. 
He  is  a  wanderer  in  a  desert — in  hopeless  perplexity 
unless  he  has  a  guide.  In  this  sense  all  men  are  lost 
unless  God  intervenes  for  their  rescue. 

That  this  was  Mohammed's  view  we  cannot  doubt. 
He  had  in  his  own  heart  an  abiding  sense  of  his  need 
of  guidance.  The  only  real  petition  in  his  model 
prayer  (the  Fatiha)  asks  for  guidance ;  and  he  inter- 
prets the  petition  for  us  in  the  words  :  "  Our  Lord, 
do  not  let  our  hearts  wander,  after  Thou  hast  directed 
us  ;  give  us  grace  from  Thee — Thou  art  the  bountiful 
Giver."  *  And  a  further  commentary  is  afforded  by 
the  traditions.  Mohammed  was  asked  what  he  was 
accustomed  to  say  in  his  private  devotions.  He  re- 
plied :  "  I  say  :  O  God  put  my  sins  as  far  away  from 
me  as  Thou  hast  put  the  East  from  the  West ;  O  God, 
cleanse  me  from  sin  as  the  white  garment  is  cleansed 
from  its  filth  ;  O  God,  wash  away  my  sins  with  water 
and  with  snovv^  and  with  hail."  f  I  need  hardly  call 
3'our  attention  to  the  Scripture  affirmation  that  God 
"has  put  our  sins  as  far  from  us  as  the  East  is  from 
the  West,"  and  to  the  language  of  Job  concerning 
washing  himself  in  snow  v/ater.  The  resemblance 
may  be  owing  partly  to  the  traditionist,  but  there  is 
no  reason  to  sup]^ose  that  the  sentiment  is  not  genu- 
inely Mohammed's. 

The  sense  of  sin  thus  revealed  is  found  also  in  Mo- 
hammed's companions.  Abu  Bekr  asked  Mohammed 
to  teach  him  a  prayer  to  be  used  in  his  private  devo- 

*  Koran  3^  t  Bochari,  I.,  p.  167. 

14 


210  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tions.  The  form  given  was:  *'0,  God,  I  have 
wronged  my  own  soul  with  grievous  sin,  and  none  for- 
gives sins  but  Thou ;  forgive  me  with  Thy  forgive- 
ness, and  have  compassion  unto  me — verily  Thou  art 
the  Forgiving,  the  Compassionate."  ^  Abu  Bekr  was 
of  an  emotional  nature,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to 
find  such  desires  in  him.  But  Omar,  the  man  of  iron 
will  and  cool  head,  was  affected  with  the  same  con- 
cern :  "  I  heard  the  sobbing  of  Omar  (says  one  of  the 
Companions),  when  I  w^as  in  the  last  row  [in  the 
mosque]  as  he  recited  :  I  show  my  grief  and  my 
sorrow  to  God  alone."  f  Others  of  the  early  Mos- 
lems wept  when  prosperity  came  to  them,  fearing 
that  they  were  receiving  their  recompense  in  this 
life.  One  of  the  Companions  came  to  consult  him, 
and  the  Prophet  said  :  Are  you  come  to  ask  what  is 
goodness  and  what  is  badness  ?  On  receiving  an 
afdrmative  reply  (says  the  narrator),  he  joined  his 
fingers  together  and  struck  them  upon  my  breast, 
that  is,  he  made  a  sign  toward  my  heart,  and  said  : 
Ask  the  sentence  from  thine  own  heart.  This  he  re- 
peated three  times  and  added:  "  Goodness  is  a  thing 
from  which  the  heart  finds  firmness  and  rest,  and 
badness  is  a  thing  which  throws  thee  into  doubt, 
though  men  may  approve."  %  The  sentence  reminds 
us  of  Paul's  treatment  of  conscience,  but  it  is  not 
quoted  for  that  analogy.  It  is  in  place  here,  because 
it  throws  light  upon  the  mind  of  Mohammed  and  his 

*  Bochari^  I.,  p.  187. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  1G2.  Omar,  was,  of  course,  in  the  front  row  of  those 
praying. 

X  Mislicaty  II.,  p.  4.  For  some  striking  examples  of  the  dread  of 
sin,  see  Kremer,  Herrschende  Ideen  des  Islam^  p.  24. 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  211 

followers.  AYe  can  scarcely  interpret  it  otherwise 
than  as  indicating  a  sincere  dread  of  sin  and  a  sincere 
desire  for  righteousness. 

AVe  must  conclude  that  the  power  of  Mohammed's 
message  consisted  in  its  appeal  to  the  conscience.  It 
threatened  punishment  which  was  felt  to  be  deserved. 
It  was  therefore  a  message  of  salvation.  And  the 
vividness  of  the  sense  of  ill  desert  was  such  as  to 
paint  a  picture  of  impending  doom,  from  which  men 
would  be  glad  to  flee.  This  doom  was  conceived  of 
either  as  a  Day  of  the  Lord — that  is,  a  great  catas- 
trophe such  as  had  overtaken  Sodom  and  destroyed 
Pharaoh  —  or  as  the  Day  of  final  Judgment.  As 
to  the  great  catastrophe,  it  is  possible,  even  prob- 
able, that  Mohammed's  early  preaching  set  a  time 
for  its  coming  more  definitely  than  now  appears. 
The  present  text  of  the  Koran  is  rather  guarded  in 
its  language  :  "  Perhaps  a  portion  of  that  which  you 
desire  to  hasten  is  close  upon  you ; "  "  Men  ask  thee 
concerning  the  Hour.  Say :  The  knowledge  of  it  is 
with  God  alone,  and  how  dost  thou  know  whether  it 
may  not  be  near?  "  '^  In  a  few  instances  we  find  ap- 
parently categorical  statements  that  the  Hour  is  near, 
and  that  its  signs  are  already  discernible.  It  is  prob- 
able that  these  were  once  more  numerous.  But  the 
urgency  of  his  opponents  that  Mohammed  should  fix  a 
definite  time  for  the  punishment,  taught  him  caution. 

If  there  was  some  uncertainty  as  to  God's  inter- 
vention in  an  overthrow  of  the  Meccan  state,  there 
could  be  none  as  to  the  final  Judgment.  That  was 
certain,  and  its  decision  wouki  be  irreversible.     In 

*  Koran  27",  33''. 


212  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

that  day  repentance  will  no  longer  avail,  and  those 
who  are  confronted  with  the  list  of  their  sins  will 
wish  in  vain  for  one  hour  of  earthly  life  in  which  to 
accept  the  message  of  their  prophet.  They  will  be 
asked  whether  they  liad  not  had  the  opportunity  to 
repent ;  whether  apostles  had  not  come  to  warn  them 
of  their  danger.  They  will  be  obliged  to  confess  that 
they  have  brought  their  punishment  on  themselves. 
Salvation  (this  is  the  conclusion)  is  offered  to  men  by 
the  apostles  of  God.  It  was  offered  to  Adam  after 
his  fall :  "  Adam  received  from  his  Lord  words,  and 
repented  (He  is  the  Indulgent,  the  Compassionate) — 
We  said  :  Go  down  hence,  and  when  there  comes  to 
you  guidance  from  Me,  whoever  follows  My  guidance, 
no  fear  shall  rest  upon  such  nor  shall  they  be 
grieved."  *  Adam  thus  received  the  Avords  of  grace 
directly  from  God,  and  with  them  a  promise  of  future 
revelation  to  the  race. 

In  what  has  been  said  thus  far,  you  will  discover 
the  substantial  agreement  of  Mohammed  with  Bibli- 
cal doctrine.  Aside  from  Paul,  whose  philosophical 
discussion  has  perhaps  unduly  colored  later  theology, 
the  Biblical  writers  lay  no  emphasis  upon  the  fall  of 
man  in  Adam.  At  the, same  time  they  assume  the 
prevalence  of  sin,  and  its  practical  universality. 
Their  conviction  is  based  upon  the  testimony  of 
their  own  consciences.  They  feel,  therefore,  the 
need  of  salvation.  This  feeling  is  quickened  by  the 
preaching  of  the  Prophets  who  proclaim  a  Day  of 
Yahweh,  a  day  of  calamity  upon  the  evil-doers.  In 
the  New  Testament  this  Day  of  the  Lord  is  com- 

*  Koran  2^^  f. 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  213 

biued  with  the  final  Judgment.  The  time  is  evi- 
dently thought  to  be  near,  though  it  is  expressly 
declared  that  no  man  knows  the  day  nor  the  hour. 
The  emphasis  of  the  message  is  laid  upon  the  way  of 
escape  provided  by  God  Himself.  This  way  of  es- 
cape was  apparently  open  to  Adam  and  was  indicated 
by  a  promise  made  to  him  for  his  descendants.  In 
all  these  respects,  Mohammed  took  strictly  Biblical 
ground. 

Looking  more  narrowly  at  the  idea  of  salvation  as 
set  forth  in  Islam,  we  discover,  first,  that  it  is  of 
God's  free  grace.  He  has  provided  in  His  ordinary 
administration  of  the  world  (that  is,  in  nature)  all  that 
man  could  require  at  His  hands.  But  this  has  proved 
insufficient.  Man  is  ungrateful  and  inaccessible  to 
such  evidences.  God  therefore  adds  something  more, 
in  giving  His  revelation.  Not  that  Mohammed  draws 
a  definite  line  marking  off  God's  goodness  in  nature 
from  His  goodness  in  the  scheme  of  salvation.  He 
speaks  of  the  grace  of  God  in  both.  This  word* 
means  the  state  of  mind  which  leads  one  to  help  or 
pardon  the  undeserving  ;  grace,  mercy,  or  compas- 
sion are  our  equivalents.  This  state  of  mind  in  God  is 
shown  by  His  ordinary  providence.  The  rain  is  an 
expression  of  His  grace,  and  the  winds  which  bring 
the  clouds  are  its  precursors.  The  succession  of  day 
and  night  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  man,  and  this  is 
of  His  grace.  When  trouble  comes  upon  men  they 
pray  to  God,  and  He  makes  them  taste  His  grace  iu 
that  He  sends  them  relief.f 

*  Rahma ;  tlie  root  is  found  also  in  Ilibrew. 
t  Koran  25^^  28",  20''^ 


214  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Salvation  is  another  evidence  and  outworking  of 
tlie  same  grace.  The  prophets  of  earher  times  were 
saved  from  the  destruction  which  overtook  the  un- 
believers by  a  grace  (or  mercy)  from  God.'"'  By  the 
same  grace  those  who  are  admitted  to  Paradise  are 
saved,  and  they  recognize  the  fact.t  The  special 
proof  of  this  mind  on  the  part  of  God  is  the  gift  of 
revelation.  The  prophet  Salih  remonstrates  with  his 
people :  "  O,  my  people !  Do  you  not  see  ?  If  I 
have  received  a  plain  sign  from  my  Lord,  and  if 
there  has  come  to  me  from  Him  a  grace  [that  is,  a 
revelatioifi],  who  will  defend  me  from  Him  if  I  rebel 
against  him  ? "  t  In  a  nearly  related  sense  the 
prophet  is  himself  said  to  be  a  grace  from  God.  So 
the  angel  of  the  annunciation,  speaking  for  God, 
says  to  Mary :  "  We  have  made  him  [Jesus]  a  sign  to 
mankind,  and  a  grace  from  Us.§  Mohammed  also  is 
addressed  in  the  words :  "  We  have  sent  thee  as  a 
grace  to  the  universe."  The  same  word  is  applied 
to  the  revelation  when  embodied  in  a  book  :  ''  When 
Moses'  anger  was  appeased  he  took  up  the  Tables  in 
whose  characters  was  a  direction  and  a  grace  to  those 
who  fear  their  Lord.  "  II  The  "  grace  of  God  which 
bringeth  salvation  "  is  a  Biblical  phrase  which  well 
sums  up  the  view  of  Mohammed  as  set  forth  in  these 
passages. 

But  the  grace  of  God  does  not  limit  itself  to  provid- 
ing the  revelation  which  guides  men  into  life.  It  is 
also  exerted  efficaciously  upon  the  hearts  of  men, 
moving  them  to  obey  the  revelation.     I  know  not  how 

*  Koran  7'",  11"'.  t  3'<'^  V\  %  n^\ 

§  19-^'.  II  1210^  71". 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  .     215 

otherwise  to  interpret  those  passages  which  pray  for 
direction,  like  the  one  already  quoted—"  Lord,  let  not 
our  hearts  stray  from  the  right  path  after  Thou  hast 
once  directed  us."     The  revelation  was  already  there. 
What  the  speaker  desired  further  was  grace  in  the 
Christian  sense,  that  is :  a  positive  movement  of  God 
upon  his  heart.     Again  :  "  Were  not  the  bounty  of 
God  and  His  grace  upon  you,  not  one  of  you  would 
ever  be  pure  ;  but  God  purifies  whom  He  mil,  and 
God  is  the  one  who  hears  and  knows."  *    The  Prophet 
is  here  exhorting  his  own  followers  and  warning  them 
against  following  the  footsteps  of  Satan.     He  evi- 
dently means  that  something  more  than  the  revela- 
tion is  the  efficient  cause  of  their  purification.     In  one 
passage  he  classes  himself  with  those  just  addressed : 
"  Had  not  the  bounty  and  the  grace  of   thy  Lord 
been  upon  thee,  a  party  of  them  had  purposed  to  lead 
thee  astray   [and  succeeded].     But   they  shall  lead 
astray  only  themselves,  and  shall  not  harm  thee  in 
any  respect.    God  hath  sent  down  upon  thee  the  Book 
and  the  grace,  and  hath  taught  thee  what  thou  didst 
not  know,  and  the  bounty  of  God  toward  thee  was 
great."  f     It  is  evident  on  the  face  of  the  passage  that 
some  trap  was  prepared  for  Mohammed  from  which 
he  escaped.     He  ascribed  his  escape  to  a  special  ex- 
ercise of  grace  on  the  part  of  God. 

This  is  the  place  to  inquire  for  the  doctrine  of  par- 
tlcular  election.  We  must,  however,  be  careful  not 
to  put  more  into  words  than  the  author  intended. 
The  general  assertion  that  God  chooses  His  instru- 
ments does  not  imply  an  absolute  decree  extending 
*  Koran  24''.  t-t"^ 


216  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to  the  lot  of  all  mankiucl.  The  question  of  such  a  de- 
cree seems  to  have  been  brought  home  to  Mohammed 
by  the  Jews.  They  insisted  that  they  were  an  elect 
people,  and  the  implication  was  obvious  that  God  had 
rejected  the  other  nations.  Against  this  im]3li cation 
Mohammed  asserted  God's  sovereign  freedom.  The 
election  of  Israel  he  acknowledged  :  "  God  chose  for 
Himself  Adam  and  Noah  and  the  family  of  Abraham 
and  the  family  of  Imran  [the  father  of  Mary]  above 
all  the  world."  ^  But  he  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
validity  of  the  inference  drawn  by  the  Jews.  "If 
God  had  pleased,  He  had  made  them  [that  is,  man- 
kind] a  single  nation.  But  He  lets  whom  He  will 
partake  of  His  grace,  and  the  evil-doers  have  neither 
protector  nor  helper."  t  That  is  to  say  :  true  religion 
is  not  a  matter  of  race ;  all  mankind  might  have  been 
the  favored  recipients  of  revelation  ;  the  preference 
of  one  part  over  another  rests  in  the  will  of  God  ;  He 
may  and  does  admit  others  to  His  grace  as  well  as 
the  Jews.  The  verse,  therefore,  vindicates  the  free- 
dom of  God  against  a  too  narrow  doctrine  of  election.^ 
It  reminds  us  that  Paul  reasons  in  a  similar  way 
The  Jew  claims  that  God  has  bound  Himself  to  save 

*  Koran  3"".  f  426. 

X  Against  the  maxim  of  the  Jews  to  trust  none  but  those  of  their 
own  religion,  Mohammed  says:  "Say:  Verily  the  Guidance  is 
God's  Guidance,  that  any  man  may  receive  the  like  of  what  you 
have  received,  or  may  even  surpass  you  in  the  sight  of  your  Lord. 
Say  :  Verily  the  bounty  is  in  the  hand  of  God  ;  He  bestows  it  upon 
whom  He  will,  and  God  is  liberal,  wise.  He  distinguishes  by  His 
grace  whom  He  will,  and  He  is  the  possessor  of  enormous  bounty  " 
(S**^  *').  It  must  be  clear  that  the  opposition  is  between  the  narrow- 
ness of  Judaism,  which  recognizes  no  religion  but  its  own,  and  the 
breadth  of  a  divine  choice  which  is  not  confined  witliin  lines  of  race. 


Sm  AND  SALVATION  217 

those  who  are  born  iiuder  the  Law  ;  Paul  replies  that 
He  has  mercy  on  whom  He  will  liave  mercy.  This  is 
not  an  assertion  of  the  absoluteness  of  the  decree.  It 
is  a  protest  against  the  narrowTiess  of  those  who 
limit  the  grace  of  God  by  the  absoluteness  of  an  elec- 
tion once  made. 

Still,  the  protest  assumes  the  actuality  of  the  decree. 
The  election  is  there,  although  no  longer  confined  by 
lines  of  descent.  God  not  only  chooses  the  prophets 
as  His  distinguished  instruments ;  He  chooses  also 
the  other  believers  :  "Of  their  [that  is,  the  Prophets'} 
fathers,  and  of  their  children,  and  of  their  brothers, 
have  We  chosen,  and  have  led  them  on  the  straight 
path.  This  is  the  guidance  of  God  by  whom  He 
guides  whom  He  will  of  His  servants ;  but  if  they  be- 
come polytheists,  what  they  have  done  will  be  of  no 
account.  These  are  they  to  whom  "We  have  given 
the  Book  and  wisdom  and  prophecy  ;  and  if  they  dis- 
believe in  it,  We  will  appoint  for  it  a  people  who  do 
not  disbelieve."  ^*  The  divine  choice  is  here  asserted, 
but  it  is  not  an  absolute  choice.  Even  those  who  are 
chosen  may  become  polytheists,  thus  falling  away. 
In  one  passage,  however,  we  find  that  the  will  of  the 
believer  is  dependent  upon  the  divine  will :  "  This, 
now,  is  a  reminder  ;  whoever  luill  let  him  choose  the 
way  to  his  Lord.  But  you  will  not  ivill  unless  God 
will."t  Some  other  passages  bearing  on  this  subject 
have  already  been  quoted  in  the  lecture  on  the  Gov- 
ernment of  God.  AVhat  we  there  discovered  is  con- 
firmed here — that  Mohammed  had  no  rigid  tlieory  on 
the  subject. 

*  Koran  C"*'  f^.  t  ^^'^  ^ 


218  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  general  theory  of  predestination  (as  we  saw)  is 
an  affirmation  that  the  disbelief  of  man  cannot  really 
thwart  the  will  of  God.  On  the  side  of  faith,  this 
conviction  is  aided  by  the  soul's  consciousness  of  its 
own  weakness.  The  awakened  man  finds  within  him- 
self no  ability  to  meet  the  commands  of  God.  His 
judgment  concerning  his  own  will  is,  that  it  is  averse 
to  good  and  dead  in  sin.  When  he  finds  himself  be- 
lieving in  God  and  appropriating  His  grace,  he  feels 
that  this  is  not  his  own  unaided  act.  The  doctrine  of 
grace  is  a  judgment  founded  on  this  experience.  Sav- 
ing faith  must  be  explained  as  the  effect  of  grace.  Mo- 
hammed's view  is  seen  in  the  following,  addressed  to 
believers:  "God  has  made  you  love  faith,  and  has 
made  it  attractive  in  your  hearts,  and  has  made  in- 
fidelity and  vice  and  rebellion  odious  to  you."  *  With 
this  compare  the  following  :  "  We  sent  Jesus,  the  son 
of  Mary  and  gave  Him  the  Gospel,  and  placed  in  the 
hearts  of  those  who  followed  him  compassion  and 
grace  ;  "  and  again  :  "  It  is  He  who  sent  the  Shekina 
into  the  hearts  of  the  believers  to  increase  them  in 
faith  after  they  had  once  believed."  t  The  doctrine 
of  election,  as  far  as  it  is  held,  is  a  part  of  the  doc- 
trine of  grace. 

The  same  thing  is  true  of  the  Scripture  doctrine, 
where  it  is  apparently  asserted  that  faith  is  a  gift  from 
God,  and  where  the  believer  is  encouraged  to  work 
out  his  own  salvation  because  it  is  God  who  is  workinc: 
in  him  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  good  pleasure.  Tlie 
revelation  alone  does  not  save  men.  This  is  evident 
from  its  different  effects  upon  different  men.  To  some 
*  Koran  49^  auJ  cf.  oS-'K  f  57'^',  48'. 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  219 

it  is  a  savor  from  deatli  unto  death,  to  others  a  savor 
from  life  unto  life.  No  other,  as  I  understand  it,  is 
the  position  of  Mohammed.  In  one  place  he  says 
directly  that  what  has  been  revealed  to  him  increases 
the  disobedience  and  unbelief  of  some  who  hear.* 
In  all  these  respects  therefore  the  doctrine  of  Islam 
shows  Biblical  influence. 

The  next  thing  to  be  noted  is  that  the  mark  of  sal- 
vation is  faith.  Up  to  this  point  we  have  discussed 
the  divine  provision.  This  consists  not  only  in  a  rev- 
elation of  God's  will,  but  also  in  efficient  grace  for 
those  who  are  to  be  saved.  The  evidence  that  the 
grace  has  taken  effect  is  that  its  subjects  believe. 
Those  who  believe  are  saved  and  those  who  disbelieve 
are  lost.  These  two  classes  appear  on  almost  every 
page  of  the  Koran.  The  fundamental  importance  of 
faith,  however,  is  not  so  clearly  marked  in  the  earlier 
suras  as  in  the  later.  At  first  Mohammed  seems  to 
have  been  under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  descrip- 
tion of  the  judgment — where  the  saved  and  the  lost 
are  distinguished  rather  by  their  works  than  by  their 
faith.  They  who  have  fed  the  hungry,  clothed  the 
naked,  visited  the  sick  and  the  prisoners — these  are 
the  ones  who  are  welcomed  to  the  place  prepared  for 
them.  So  in  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  Koran  wo 
find  good  works  specified  as  the  reason  why  some 
enter  Paradise.  They  are  the  ones  who  have  kept 
themselves  pure,  who  have  set  the  captives  free,  who 
have  nourished  the  orphans,  and  the  poor.t  Faith 
appears,  but  it  appears  as  one  among  many  virtues. 
As  time  goes  on,  its  fundamental  importance  seems  to 

*  Koran  o'''.  cf.  9'"  K  t  7t>-»  87'^  S  92"'. 


220  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

emerge  more  distinctly.  The  great  obstacle  which 
met  the  Prophet  revealed  itself  as  unbelief  ;  and  con- 
versely, the  distinctive  mark  of  those  who  accepted 
the  new  religion  was  seen  to  be  faith.  After  the  very 
earliest  period  of  his  ministry,  therefore,  he  adopted 
fully  the  declaration  :  "  He  that  believeth  shall  be 
saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 

The  Arabic  word  which  Mohammed  used  to  ex- 
press the  idea  of  faith  is  essentially  the  same  word 
used  both  in  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
in  the  Syriac  translation  of  the  New  Testament.  He 
used  it  to  describe  (historically)  the  state  of  mind  of 
the  prophets,  his  predecessors,  and  those  who  followed 
them.  It  is  Abraham  especially  who  is  the  example 
of  faith:  "Abraham  was  neither  Jew  nor  Christian, 
yet  he  was  pious,  resigned,  and  not  an  idolater.  The 
nearest  of  men  to  Abraham  are  those  who  follow 
him — that  is:  the  Prophet  [Mohammed]  and  those 
who  believe.''  "  Who  is  more  excellent  in  the  matter 
of  religion  than  he  who  resigns  himself  to  God,  who 
does  good  works  and  follows  the  way  of  Abraham 
the  pious,  whom  God  took  as  His  friend."  ^  The 
thought  is  evidently  borrowed  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment. And  our  first  definition  of  faith  is  taken  from 
the  behavior  of  Abraham — he  ivas  not  an  idolater. 
That  is  to  say  :  Faith  is  acceptance  of  the  proposition 
that  there  is  no  God  but  one.  "  Abraham  said  to  his 
father :  I  am  pure  from  the  service  which  you  ren- 
der." f  That  Mohammed  did  not  mean  the  mere  in- 
tellectual faith,  however,  is  evident  from  other  pas- 
sages, such  as  the  following :  "  The  believers  commit 
*  Koran  3''0  S  4i24.  f  43-\ 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  221 

themselves  to  God;  aud  why  should  we  not  commit 
ourselves  to  Him,  when  He  has  guided  us  on  our 
ways  ?  "  ^*  Other  passages  which  speak  of  the  believ- 
ers taking  God  as  their  protector  imply  that  their 
faith  is  trust  in  Him.f 

The  man  w^ho  believes  in  God  must  believe  the 
messenger  of  God  and  his  message.  God  and  His 
Apostle  are  often  joined  together  as  the  object 
of  faith  ;  so  are  God  and  His  revelation.  Or,  faith 
may  be  spoken  of  as  belief  in  the  Apostle  or  in  the 
revelation,  where  belief  in  God  is  implied.  As  with 
us,  belief  in  the  Word  necessarily  includes  belief  in 
God.  This  faith  is  assent  to  the  truth  of  the  message. 
The  most  frequent  charge  against  the  unbelievers  is 
that  they  accuse  the  revelation  of  falsehood.  Exam- 
ples are  so  numerous  that  I  need  not  quote.  :j: 

In  other  passages  faith  is  defined  as  believing  in 
God  and  the  Last  Day,§  or  simply  as  believing  in  the 
life  to  come.     Believers  are  once  described  as  having 

*KoranU"f.  ^  o'\ 

X  It  is  perhaps  an  evidence  of  tlie  affinity  of  Mohammed's  doc- 
trine ■with  that  current  among  Christians  that  he  found  tlie  Cliristians 
the  most  ready  to  receive  him  :  *'  Thou  wilt  find  the  nearest  in  friend- 
Bhip  to  the  believers  those  who  call  themselves  Christians.  This  is 
because  they  have  priests  and  monks,  and  are  not  arrogant.  When 
they  hear  wliat  is  revealed  to  the  Prophet,  thou  wilt  see  their  eyes 
overflow  with  tears  on  account  of  the  trutli  which  they  recognize, 
while  they  say  :  Our  Lord,  we  believe  !  Enroll  us  among  those  who 
testify  [to  the  truth].  And  why  should  we  not  believe  in  God  and 
in  the  truth  which  has  come  to  us,  and  [Avhy  should  we  not]  desire 
that  our  Lord  may  place  us  among  tlic  righteous  ?  "  o'^"'  ^.  "We  can 
hardly  suppose  the  words  to  have  been  spoken  witliout  some  basis 
in  fact. 

§359. 


222  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

assurance  of  the  life  to  come,  and  once  as  believing 
in  the  unseen.  The  unbelief  which  opposed  Moham- 
med made  its  stand  on  this  point  more  obstinately 
than  on  any  other.  That  men  should  be  restored  to 
life  with  full}^  reconstructed  bodies  after  once  becom- 
ing dust  and  mouldering  bones,  they  would  not  believe, 
and,  indeed,  they  ridiculed  so  absurd  a  proposition. 
The  i^reacher  had  often  to  denounce  the  guilt  of  such 
unbelief.  Conversely,  faith  in  the  future  life  is  often 
mentioned  in  connection  with  faith  in  God  and  His 
Apostle :  "  Those  who  believe  in  the  future  life  be- 
lieve [also]  in  the  Koran,  and  are  watchful  unto 
prayer."^  And  again  :  The  believers,  all  of  them, 
believe  in  God  and  His  angels,  and  His  Books  and 
His  Apostles — without  distinguishing  betvveen  the 
Apostles — and  they  say  :  We  have  heard  and  vre 
obey !  Grant  us  Thy  forgiveness,  O  Lord ;  unto 
Thee  we  tend."  f  Faith,  then,  is  not  a  mere  intel- 
lectual assent  to  certain  propositions  ;  it  is  a  disj^os- 
ing  of  the  will  toward  the  Author  of  the  revelation^ 
with  a  desire  to  obey  His  commands. 

We  can  readily  understand  now,  why  faith  and 
good  works  are  so  often  mentioned  together.  They 
loho  believe  and  do  good  ivorks  is  the  most  frequent 
phrase  descriptive  of  the  righteous.  More  elaborate 
descriptions  are  such  as  the  following :  "  The  good 
does  not  consist  in  turning  your  faces  to  the  East  or 
the  West.  But  good  is  he  who  believes  in  God  and 
the  Last  Day,  and  the  angels  and  the  Book  and  the 
Prophets ;  and  who  for  the  love  of  Him  gives  his 
property  to  his  kinsmen,  and  to  the  orphans,  and  the 
*  Koran  G  2.  f  2'-". 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  223 

poor,  and  the  wayfarer,  aud  the  mendicant,  and  for 
freeing  slaves;  and  who  observes  prayer  and  who 
gives  alms,  and  [good  are]  those  who  fulhl  their  en- 
gagements when  they  have  made  them,  and  those 
who  are  patient  in  misfortunes  and  distresses  and  in 
the  time  of  calamity.  These  are  the  righteous  and 
these  are  they  w^ho  fear  God."^  Such  descriptions 
show  that  Mohammed  had  reflected  on  the  connec- 
tion of  faith  and  works.  Faith  and  the  fear  of  God 
are  also  joined  together,  as  are  faith  and  repentance. 
All  this  convinces  us  that  Mohammed  desired  to 
awaken  the  affection  of  the  heart  and  draw  it  toward 
God.  "  Those  only  believe  Our  words  y  who,  when 
tliey  are  reminded  of  them,  fall  prostrate  and  utter 
the  praise  of  their  Lord;  who  do  not  exalt  them- 
selves ;  whose  bodies  do  not  rest  upon  their  beds, 
because  they  call  upon  their  Lord  in  fear  and  in 
desire." 

In  practice,  and  when  he  had  become  ruler  of  a 
state,  the  Prophet  recognized  that  the  profession  of 
the  lips  was  all  that  he  could  require  from  men.  In 
this  he  was  doing  what  political  leaders  are  obliged 
to  do.  But  vv-hat  has  been  said,  shows  that  his  ideal 
was  very  near  the  one  set  forth  in  the  Bible.  Where 
he  says  that  the  hearts  of  believers  find  rest  in  mak- 
ing mention  of  God,:|:  we  are  reminded  of  the  Biblical 
promises  of  peace  to  the  believer.  The  tradition 
which  declares  that  the  intention  makes  the  quality 

*  Koran  2'"'. 

f  Oar  signs^  where  signs  is  put  for  the  verses  of  the  Koran.     The 
passage  is  32'-^  •". 
X  13-«. 


224  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

of  the  action^"  is  very  near  the  Old  Testament  declar- 
ation that  "  as  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he." 
Again,  a  tradition  gives  the  following  :  "  Mohammed 
said  :  None  of  you  believes  until  he  loves  his  brother 
as  he  loves  himself."  f  New  Testament  influence  is 
the  more  marked,  that  the  Peshito  has  thy  hrothei^  for 
thy  neighbor  in  the  second  great  commandment.  And 
again :  "  None  of  you  believes  until  I  am  dearer  to 
him  than  his  father  and  his  child."J  We  remember 
that  Jesus  also  said  :  "  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me  ;  and  he 
that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  me  is  not 
worthy  of  me."  Once  more :  "  Mohammed  said : 
There  is  a  piece  of  flesh  in  the  body  [of  which  it  is 
true  that]  when  it  is  right,  the  whole  body  is  right, 
and  w^hen  it  is  unsound  the  whole  body  is  unsound.  "§ 
Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of  life  is  the  parallel 
declaration  of  the  Gospel. 

Islam  is  another  name  for  faith ;  or,  where  a  dis- 
tinction is  made,  Islam  is  the  outAvard  profession ; 
I  man  (faith)  is  the  inward  state.  Mohammed  says 
of  the  Bedawin :  "  The  Arabs  say :  We  believe. 
Say  to  them :  Nay  you  do  not  believe,  you  should 
say  rather  :  Wo  have  accepted  Islam,  ||  for  faith  has 
not  yet  entered  your  hearts."  He  knew  his  Arabs 
and  knew  that  the  great  part  of  them  had  made  an 
external  submission  to  his  rule  while  their  hearts  were 
unchanged.  Still,  as  the  submission  may  be  the  ex- 
pression of  sincerity,  Islam  is  not  infrequently  used 

*i?oc7iaW,  I.,  p.  2.  tibid.,  p.  8.     Cf.  Matt.  22-9  (Peshito). 

X  Ibid.,  p.  9.     Cf.  Matt.  10".  §  Ibid.,  p.  17. 

II  Aslamna,  we  are  resigned.     The  passage  is  49''. 


sijy  and  salvation  225 

for  faith :  "  When  [Abraham's]  Lord  said  to  Lim  : 
Be  resigned !  he  replied  :  I  am  resigned  to  the  Lord 
of  the  universe."  When  Abraham  went  to  offer  his 
son,  the  son  encouraged  liis  father,  promising  to  be 
patient — "And  when  both  had  [thus]  resigned  them- 
selves, he  threw  him  upon  his  face  but  We  called 
to  him."  *  As  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  Islam 
is  a  ]Drinciple  common  to  the  three  great  religions. 
The  Jews  and  Christians  claim  to  have  been  resigned 
(Moslems)  before  the  coming  of  Mohammed  f  It 
follows  that  Mohammed  did  not  intend  to  make 
Islam  the  distinguishing  principle  of  his  religion. 
He  identified  his  religion  with  Judaism  and  Chris- 
tianity. In  all  three,  faith  was  the  principle  in  the 
heart,  Islam  the  profession  with  the  lips.  In  the 
New  Testament  also,  "  with  the  heart  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth  confession  is 
made  unto  salvation."  % 

But  what  is  the  salvation  secured  by  those  who 
believe  ?  Most  prominently  it  is  deliverance  from 
punishment.  As  we  have  seen,  the  future  state  bulks 
largely  in  the  preaching  of  Mohammed.  He  had  no 
timidity  in  painting  either  the  joys  of  the  blessed  or 
the  torments  of  the  doomed.  The  thought  of  the 
Judgment  was  the  overmastering  thought  of  his  ear- 
lier career,  and  the  motive  for  his  preaching.  That  he 
was  here  under  Christian  influence  needs  no  demon- 
stration. To  modern  taste  his  appeal  to  the  fear  of 
punishment  is  made  too  prominent.  But  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  it  would  have  seemed  so  to  the  Church 
of  the  Middle  Age. 

*  Koran  2'2%  37'^".  t  28^'^  ^  %  Rom.  10'". 

15 


226  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

We  should  wrong  Mohammed,  however,  if  we  sup- 
posed his  conception  of  salvation  to  be  merely  ex- 
ternal. The  happiness  of  the  believer  consists  in 
obtaining  the  forgiveness  of  God,  and  this  forgive- 
ness is  valued  for  itself — not  because  it  secures  en- 
trance to  Paradise.  The  wrath  of  God  rests  on  sin- 
ners, but  He  forgives  those  who  believe.  So  he  has 
manifested  His  grace  in  the  past.  "When  David  was 
reproved  by  a  parable — "  then  he  discovered  how 
We  had  tested  him  and,  falling  prostrate,  he  begged 
forgiveness  of  his  Lord  and  repented ;  and  We  for- 
gave him  his  sin,  and  he  had  access  to  Us,  and  an 
excellent  refuge."  ^  Of  true  believers  it  is  said : 
"  These,  when  they  have  done  wrong  or  harmed  their 
souls,  remember  God  and  ask  forgiveness  for  their 
sins  (and  who  forgives  sins  except  God  ?)  and  do  not 
persist  in  what  they  have  done,  when  they  know  [its 
harm] ;  their  portion  is  forgiveness  from  their  Lord, 
and  Gardens  in  which  flow  perennial  streams."  \. 
Although  the  future  reward  is  mentioned  here,  the 
forgiveness  is  evidently  regarded  as  a  good  in  itself. 
And  we  can  scarcely  doubt  the  spiritual  emphasis  of 
such  a  passage  as  the  following  :  "  If  you  love  God 
follow  me,  and  God  will  love  you  and  forgive  your 
sins — God  is  loving  and  gracious."  %  It  is  related 
in  a  tradition  that  Mohammed  was  accustomed  to  pray 
for  forgiveness  seventy  times  a  day;  and  that  he 
said :  "  There  are  three  things  possessing  which  a 
man  finds  the  sweetness  of  faith  :  that  Allah  and  His 
Prophet  are  dearer  to  him  than  anything  besides 
them ;  that  he  loves  the  man  who  is  loved  by  none 

*  Koran  38^3.  I  3129,  ^329 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  227 

but  God ;  and  that  he  dreads  returning  to  unbelief 
as  he  dreads  being  thrown  into  the  fire."*  The  mo- 
tive here  urged  is  the  sweetness  of  a  complete  faith 
considered  by  itself,  and  not  looking  for  another 
reward. 

But  while  we  find  some  indications  of  a  real  spirit- 
ual apprehension  of  religion,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  emphasis  of  Mohammed  is  placed  largely  upon 
externals.  His  imagination  was  unequal  to  the  task 
of  describing  pure  spiritual  joys  except  under  sensu- 
ous images.  Hence  comes  the  wearisome  repetitions 
in  his  picture  of  the  rewards  of  heaven.  In  laying 
so  much  stress  upon  the  rewards  of  piety,  he  fell 
short  of  the  New  Testament  ideal.  And  this  is  ac- 
counted for  largely  by  his  conception  of  revelation 
as  a  law.  It  is  indeed  a  grace  of  God,  that  men  are 
pointed  to  the  right  path.  They  do  attain  salvation 
by  following  the  direction  thus  imparted.  But  in 
practice,  this  means  that  their  salvation  consists  in 
the  performance  of  ceremonies,  whose  only  reason  is 
that  they  are  enjoined  by  God.  A  treatise  of  Mos- 
lem theology  which  represents  the  estabHshed  or- 
thodoxy f  says  the  foundations  of  Islam  are  five,  to 
wit :  (1)  the  confession  that  there  is  no  God  but 
Allah  and  that  Mohammed  is  His  Apostle,  (2)  the 
observance  of  prayer,  (3)  the  giving  of  alms,  (4)  the 
observance  of  Bamadhan,  and  (5)  the  performance 
of  the  pilgrimage.  Four  parts  of  religion  out  of  five 
therefore  consist  in  external  observances.     This  is  no 

*  Bochari.,  I.,  p.  9. 

t  Compendium  Theol.  Moham.  apud  Reland.    De  Relig.  Moham., 
p.  5. 


228  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

doubt  an  exaggerated  statement,  as  compared  with 
what  Mohammed  himself  would  have  said.  But  he 
opened  the  w^ay  to  such  a  conception  by  presenting 
his  revelation  as  a  legal  system.  Here  is  one  of  the 
points  in  which  he  failed  to  rise  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment view,  and  in  which  his  system  more  nearly  re- 
sembled the  legalism  into  which  the  Jews  fell  by 
their  one-sided  emphasis  of  their  Tora. 

But  while  admitting  that  Islam  did  not  rise  to  the 
height  of  the  Gospel,  we  must  remember  that  the 
Christianity  of  that  day  did  not  rise  to  the  height 
of  the  Gospel  either.  The  early  Church  saw  in  the 
New  Testament  a  new  Law  of  essentially  the  same 
nature  with  the  old."^  This  being  the  conception 
which  Mohammed  received  from  the  Christianity  of 
his  time  we  cannot  w^onder  that  he  adopted  it,  espe- 
cially as  circumstances  emphasized  the  need  of  a 
strict  code.  He  had  to  do  with  men  converted  from 
heathenism.  They  were  men  little  used  to  self-con- 
trol. As  a  matter  of  state  policy,  he  was  obliged  to 
provide  them  with  specific  rules  of  conduct,  and  to 
enforce  obedience  by  supernatural  sanctions.  His 
rules  were  not  as  restrictive  as  those  of  Judaism,  but 
the  principle  on  which  the  system  was  based  was 
really  the  same. 

The  result  of  placing  the  revelation  in  this  position 
has  been  to  make  Islam  the  most  conservative  sys- 
tem the  world  has  ever  seen.  Moha,mmed  was,  as  he 
himself  claimed,  the  last  of  the  prophets — the  seal  of 
that  long  line  of  messengers.  His  revelation  is  there- 
fore the  final  revelation,  and  being  a  law  for  all  rela- 

*  Ilarnack,  DogmengescMchie^  II.,  p.  140. 


SIN  AND  SALVATION  229 

tions  of  life,  civil,  social,  and  individual,  these  cannot 
change   because   it   cannot   change.^     There   is   no 
pov/er  Avhich  can  amend  it,  because  it  is  a  transcript 
from  the  heavenly  tablet,  and  no  one  now  has  access 
to  the  original.     The  Pentateuch  and  the  Gospel  are 
indeed  from  the  same  exalted  source.     But  in  their 
present  form  these  are  open  to  suspicion  as  having 
possibly  been  corrupted  by  those  who  have  them  in 
charge.     The  authentic  lav/  is  the  Koran  ;  and  faith 
in  God  means  obedience  to  this  law.     Multitudes  of 
earnest  and    conscientious  men  are  making  it   the 
aim  of  their  lives  to  conform  to  this  law.    They  actu- 
ally attain  a  high  degree  of  virtue  measured  by  the 
standard  of  the  Middle  Age ;  and  their  conscientious 
fidelity  to  principle  must  command  our  respect,  meas- 
ure it  by  w^hat  standard  we  will.     But  their  devotion 
to  the    light  which  came  to  their  ancestors  nearly 
thirteen  hundred  years  ago,  shuts  their  eyes  to  the 
light  of  the  present  time.    All  the  wonderful  progress 
of  which  we  boast,  is  to  them  only  apostasy  from  the 
truth  of  God.     Hence  arises  the  tragedy  of  the  East 
—a  tragedy   at    which    the   civilized   world   stands 
aghast  to-day,  and  the  last  act  in  which,  it  is  to  be 
feared,  is  not  yet  played. 

This  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  discuss  this  sub- 
ject at  length.  Our  topic  is  sin  and  salvation,  and 
we  have  discovered  in  this  as  in  the  other  parts  of 

*The  traditions  rightly  express  the  mind  of  Islam  when  they 
make  Mohammed  say  :  "  Verily  the  best  word  is  the  word  of  God; 
and  the  best  rule  of  conduct  is  that  delivered  by  Mohammed,  and 
the  worst  of  all  acts  are  those  which  are  innovations  .  .  .  and 
every  innovation  is  abandoning  the  right  road," — Mishcat,  I.,  p. 
44. 


230  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Moliammed's  doctrine  a  decisive  Biblical  influence. 
His  system  is  that  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  so 
far  as  he  was  able  to  adapt  it  to  the  people  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact.  To  a  considerable  extent 
he  apprehended  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith. 
But  he  hampered  his  system  by  tying  faith  down  to  a 
code  which,  under  the  guise  of  an  unchangeable  reve- 
lation, made  the  customs  of  his  time  a  matter  of  per- 
petual obligation. 


LECTUKE   VIII. 

THE   SERVICE  OF   GOD 

There  is  probably  no  religion  whicli  has  not  some 
ethical  quality.  There  are  always  moral  obligations 
imposed  by  the  gods,  even  in  heathenism.  In  Arab 
heathenism  we  have  examples,  in  those  engagements 
to  which  the  gods  w^ere  themselves  party.  AYhen  a 
treaty  was  made  between  two  tribes,  the  solemn  act 
was  performed  at  a  sanctuary,  and  the  deity  was 
made  a  contracting  party.  This  was  done  in  the 
belief  that  he  w^ould  punish  the  party  which  broke  its 
engagement.  The  gods  were  therefore  protectors  of 
oaths.  To  a  certain  extent  they  were  also  helpers  of 
the  helpless.  Fugitives,  upon  whom  the  guilt  of 
blood  rested,  found  an  asylum  at  the  sanctuary,  and 
the  god  became  their  patron.  But  in  general,  what 
we  know  of  the  gods  of  the  Arabs  does  not  impress  us 
with  their  high  moral  character.  They  do  not  appear 
as  the  judges  of  conduct  except  where  their  own 
rights  are  invaded — as  in  the  cases  already  specified. 
The  morality  w^hich  existed  was  developed  without 
their  influence.  It  was  the  result  of  social  forces 
working  independently.  For  example,  the  heathen 
Arab  was  strong  in  endurance.  The  scanty  nourish- 
ment of  the  desert  enforces  this  as  a  lesson  of  nature. 
To  the  present  day  among  the  Bcdawin  the  chiefest 

00-1 


232  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

virtue  is  patience  —  "a  courageous  forbearing  and 
abiding  of  hunger.  "  "  So  it  was  before  Moliammed. 
There  were  no  religious  motives  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  conscience  in  favor  of  this  virtue.  Public  opinion 
and  the  individual  affections  were  enough.  So  it  was 
with  the  martial  virtues.  Tribal  society  lives  in  a 
state  of  warfare.  In  such  a  society,  courage  in  battle, 
fidelity  to  the  blood,  self-sacrifice  for  the  clan  (or 
even  for  its  lowliest  members)  easily  become  the  ideal 
of  nobility,  without  the  aid  of  religion.  So  it  was  iu 
Arab  heathenism.  The  hospitality  for  which  the 
Bedawy  has  become  famous,  is  another  social  virtue 
wdiose  roots  can  be  traced  as  far  back  as  our  knowl- 
edge of  Arab  heathenism  goes.  And  this  hospitality 
was  not  only  exercised  toward  the  passing  guest — it 
flowed  constantly  for  the  needy.  The  songs  of  Hudhail 
speak  of  "  Chalid  to  whom  came  for  support  widows 
who  found  no  abiding  place  among  their  kinsfolk."  f 
We  are  the  more  bound  to  recognize  the  virtues  of 
heathenism,  that  the  Moslems  have  no  eye  for  them. 
The  revolution  produced  by  Islam  allows  them  to 
think  of  the  virtues  of  their  ancestors  onl}^  as  brilliant 
vices.  In  realit}^  they  were  more  than  this,  and  the 
best  of  them  were  adopted  by  the  new  religion.  The 
characteristic  thing,  however,  is,  that  in  heathenism 
they  were  independent  of  religion ;  in  Islam  they 
were  brought  into  vital  connection  with  it. J     The 

*  Goldziher,  3fuhammeda?iische  Siudien,  I.,  p.  252,  quoting  from 
Doughty,  Travels  in  Arabia  Deserta. 

f  Wellbausen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarheiten,  I.,  p.  109. 

X  The  Meccans,  \yhen  exhorted  to  obey  Allah,  reply  that  they 
obey  (not  their  gods  but)  the  customs  of  their  fathers.  Goldziher, 
I.  c,  I.,  p.  10. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  233 

change  was  made  possible  by  the  new  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  God  ;  it  was  actively  fostered  by  the  scheme 
of  future  rewards  and  punishments.  In  Islam  the 
will  of  Allah  becomes  the  supreme  rule  of  life.  The 
believer,  becomes,  by  his  faith,  a  servant  whose  only 
motive  is  to  inquire  his  Lord's  will  and  to  perform  it. 
Why  that  will  is  so,  and  not  otherwise,  does  not 
concern  him.  Mohammed  describes  himself  and  his 
motive  to  virtue  when  he  speaks  of  himself  as  a  grate- 
ful servant.  We  remember  that  the  Apostle  Paul 
also  liked  to  call  himself  the  bond-servant  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

All  conduct  comes  under  this  point  of  view.  There 
is  no  distinction  between  ceremonial  law  and  moral 
law.  The  servant  is  to  do  what  he  is  bid,  whether  it 
be  to  abstain  from  killing  game  when  on  a  pilgrimage, 
or  to  avoid  adultery  and  murder.  Ritual  and  ethics 
come  under  the  same  head — all  conduct  is  ritual,  or 
all  is  ethical,  as  jou  please  to  view  it.  That  this  is 
also  the  view  of  the  Old  Testament  is  evident.  The 
commands  of  the  Pentateuch  are  given  without  dis- 
tinction into  classes,  and  all  are  motived  in  the  same 
way.  Israel  is  a  people  set  apart  to  the  service  of 
God.  The  service  consists  in  obedience  to  His  re- 
vealed will — whether  the  command  be  to  abstain  from 
pork  or  to  abstain  from  murder.  This  is  precisely 
what  is  meant  by  calling  Israel  a  holy  (consecrated) 
people.  Mohammed  had  the  idea,  and  possibly  ex- 
pressed it  in  similar  language.  The  New  Testament 
has  the  idea  but  spiritualizes  it.  The  ritual  of  the 
Christian  consists  in  visiting  the  widow  and  the 
fatherless  in  their  alfliction,  and  in  keeping  himself 


234  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

unspotted  from  the  world.  But  tlie  Church  has  not 
yet  risen  to  the  height  of  this  ideaL  Certainly  in 
the  time  of  Mohammed  it  stood  with  the  Synagogue 
in  emphasizing  ritual  quite  as  much  as  morality. 

It  is  for  convenience  only,  therefore,  that  I  discuss 
the  service  of  God  under  the  two  heads  of  ritual  and 
ethics.  The  distinction  has  no  basis  in  Islam  itself. 
In  both  divisions  of  the  subject  we  see  the  curious 
interplay  of  two  factors — one  the  influence  of  the  old 
heathenism,  the  other  the  influence  of  the  earlier  re- 
vealed religions.  Mohammed  seems  to  have  desired 
a  more  complete  break  with  heathenism  than  he  was 
actually  able  to  effect.  An  examj^le  is  the  hihla — the 
point  toward  which  the  worshipper  turns  in  prayer. 
When  he  went  to  Medina  he  fixed  Jerusalem  as  this 
central  point.  But  he  found  it  impossible  to  main- 
tain the  regulation.  Either  because  of  his  own  af- 
fection for  the  ancestral  sanctuary,  which  he  had 
already  recognized  as  the  House  of  God,^  or  in  order 
to  strengthen  his  cause  with  the  Arabs,  he  changed 
his  Kibla  to  Mecca  after  about  a  year.  The  incident 
is  typical  of  his  career.  At  the  beginning  he  w^as  in- 
clined to  make  a  radical  departure  from  heathenism. 
In  the  end  he  had  adopted  a  considerable  portion  of 
its  ritual. 

This  is  further  exemplified  in  the  rites  of  pilgrim- 
age and  sacrifice.  These,  as  he  adopted  them,  were 
taken  from  heathenism  rather  than  from  Judaism — 
though  not  without  analogies  in  Judaism.  In  adopt- 
ing sacrifice,  he  was  careful  to  disavow  its  heathen 
significance.     The  most  natural  interpretation  of  such 

*  In  Sura  lOG. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  235 

a  rite  is  that  the  God  partakes  of  the  offering.  Against 
this  Mohammed  pronounces  :   "  As  for  the  sacrificial 
animals,  AVe  have  made  them  to  be  a  part  of  the  rites 
of  God,  iu  which  is  a  benefit.     Therefore  j)ronounco 
the  name  of  God  over  them  as  they  stand  in  rows  ; 
and,  when  they  are  slain,  eat  their  flesh  and  feed  the 
contented  [poor]  and  the  one  who  is  ashamed  to  ask. 
Thus  "We  have  mad©  the  cattle  submissive  to  you, 
perhaps  you  may  be  grateful.     Their  flesh  and  their 
blood  do  not  ascend  to  Gody  •  but  the  piety  shown  by 
you  ascends  to  Him — thus  He  has  made  them  sub- 
missive to  you,  that  you  may  praise  God  for  the  way 
in  which  He  has  led  you."  ^     These  words  contradict 
not  only  the  theory  that  the  sacrifice  is  a  gift  to  God, 
but  also  the  theory  that  it  constitutes  a  sacramental 
meal,  in  which  He  partakes  with  the  worshipper,  and 
further,  the  theory  that  it  is  a  propitiation  for  sin. 
Nothing  is  left  except  an  undefined  benefit  to  the  be- 
liever, which  was  probably  conceived  of  as  the  merit 
of  having  obeyed  a  command  of   God.     Evidently 
Mohammed  adopted  as  little  of  the  ancient  institu- 
tion as  he  could  adopt  if  he  retained  it  at  all,  and  we 
may  suppose  that  in  reducing  it  to  such  narrow  limits, 
he  was  to  some  extent  under  Christian  influence. 

In  immediate  connection  with  sacrifice  we  must 
notice  the  pilgrimage.     The  only  official  sacrifices  (if 
I  may  use  this  phrase)  in  Islam  are  ofiered  in  con- 
nection with  the  pilgrimage.f     According  to  tradi- 
*  Koran,  22"  f. 

t  Private  sacrifice  is  offered  when  an  infant  is  seven  days  old  (the 
aJctka).  Mohammed  offered  it  for  his  grandsons,  Mishcat^  II.,  316. 
For  regulations  prescribing  tlie  kind  of  animal  to  be  sacrificed,  cf. 
Mishcat^  I.,  pp.  319,  321.     The  regular  sacrifice  (of  tJie  annual 


236  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tion  it  is  incumbent  on  every  Moslem,  once  in  his 
lifetime,  to  visit  the  sanctuary  at  Mecca.  Moham- 
med, who  lived  at  Medina,  seems  to  have  intended 
that  this  should  be  done  every  year  by  those  who 
were  not  specially  hindered.  In  performing  this  duty 
the  pilgrim  wears  a  special  garb  from  the  time  of  en- 
tering the  sacred  territory.  He  makes  the  circuit  of 
the  Kaaba  and  takes  part  in  other  ceremonies,  now 
carefully  regulated  by  tradition,  and,  finally,  he  offers 
a  sacrifice  in  the  valley  of  Mina.  He  then  shaves 
his  head  and  resumes  his  ordinary  clothing.  The 
whole  resembles  what  we  find  in  Judaism,  where  it  is 
incumbent  upon  the  Israelite  to  visit  the  central  sanc- 
tuary at  stated  times.  Those  Jews  who  were  con- 
verted to  Christianity  did  not  abandon  the  custom, 
for  we  find  the  Apostle  Paul  resolved  to  keep  the 
feast  of  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem.  With  this  precedent, 
we  are  not  surprised  to  find  pilgrimage  established 
as  a  meritorious  work  in  Christianity  from  very  early 
times.  Its  prominence  in  the  Middle  Age  and  the 
influence  which  its  interruption  had  in  arousing  Eu- 
rope to  the  Crusades  are  well  known.  It  is  possible, 
therefore,  that  Mohammed,  in  establishing  this  rite, 
justified  himself  by  both  Jewish  and  Christian  prec- 
edent. But  the  resemblance  which  its  external  feat- 
ures shov/  to  Judaism  must  not  make  us  think  that 
they  are  borrowed  from  Judaism.  The  resemblance 
is  really  owing  to  the  older  Semitic  heathenism,  upon 
which  both  Judaism  and  Islam  rest.  The  shaving  of 
the  head,  for  example,  which  we  find  in  Islam,  and 

Feast  of  Sacrifice)  is  offered  at  other  places  than  Mecca.  But  this 
is  because  it  is  the  day  on  which  the  pilgrims  offer  it. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  237 

of  wliicli  Ave  find  examples  both  in  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  is  found  also  in  Arabic  heathenism.  It 
is  really  a  survival  from  the  earliest  Semitic  heathen- 
ism of  which  we  have  any  knowledge,  in  which  the 
sacrifice  of  the  hair  played  a  prominent  part. 

xigain,  the  donning  of  special  garments  at  the  sanct- 
uary, which  at  first  sight  we  think  peculiar  to  Islam, 
has  its  analogies  in  many  other  religions.  The  com- 
mand given  to  the  Israelites  to  wash  their  clothes 
before  the  appearance  of  God  at  Sinai  is  based  upon 
the  same  idea,  and  so  is  the  exhortation  of  the  Psalm- 
ist to  worship  in  the  heauiy  of  holiness,  by  which  he 
means  the  sacred  vestments.  The  idea  is,  of  course, 
that  nothing  ceremonially  unclean  should  appear  be- 
fore God.  In  the  later  Old  Testament  law  the  laity 
are  kept  altogether  from  approaching  the  holy  part 
of  the  Temple,  so  that  this  regulation  is  for  them  un- 
necessary. So  much  the  more  stringent  is  the  com- 
mand that  the  priests  should  approach  God  only  in 
the  consecrated  garments."  On  the  other  hand  we 
are  told  that  at  Mecca,  before  the  time  of  Moham- 
med, the  pilgi'ims  used  to  hire  garments  kept  specially 
for  them,  and  wear  them  in  making  the  circuit  of  the 
Kaaba.  The  natural  conclusion  is  that  Mohammed 
did  not  borrow  from  the  earlier  revealed  religions, 
but  that  he  adopted  the  heathen  custom,  purging  it 
of  what  seemed  to  him  incompatible  with  the  faith. 
The  question  of  religious  observances  gave  him  some 

*  On  these  resemblances  cf .  Wellhansen,  Skizzen  und  Vorarbei- 
ten,  III.,  pp.  51  f.,  ion,  who  cites  Gen.  ;}5'-,  II.  Kings,  10'--;  also 
W.  R.  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  433,  and  what  was  said  in 
Lecture  II.  above. 


238  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

thought,  even  at  Mecca,  if  we  may  judge  by  the  Ko- 
ran passage  which  says  :  "  We  have  ordained  for 
every  nation  rites  which  they  observe.  Let  none  dis- 
pute with  thee  in  this  matter,  but  pray  to  thy  Lord — 
verily  thou  art  in  the  straight  path."  -  The  theory 
that  the  early  religion  of  Mecca  went  back  to  Abra- 
ham would  involve  the  belief  that  the  pilgrimage  was 
divinely  ordained,  and  this  would  easily  be  confirmed 
by  what  Mohammed  knew  of  Jewish  and  Christian 
customs.  The  emphasis  which  he  laid  upon  the 
matter  of  pilgrimage  is  indicated,  and  perhaps  exag- 
gerated, by  the  tradition  which  makes  him  say,  that 
he  who  worthily  performs  the  pilgrimage  returns  as 
innocent  as  he  was  the  day  his  mother  bore  him.t 

The  next  ritual  observance  which  is  prominent  in 
Islam  is  fasting.  It  is  a  matter  of  common  fame  that 
the  Mohammedan  world  observes  the  month  of  Ka- 
madhan  by  abstaining  from  food  during  the  daylight 
hours.  It  must  be  confessed  that  the  month  is  now 
characterized  as  much  by  feasting  at  night  as  it  is  by 
fasting  during  the  day,  but  this  was  hardly  the  inten- 
tion of  the  founder.  His  idea  seems  to  have  been 
that  as  God  is  nearer  to  men  at  some  places  than  He 
is  at  others,  so  He  is  nearer  at  some  tiines  than  He  is 
at  others.  Such  a  season  should  be  marked  by  some 
special  observances.  With  this  he  may  have  had  the 
idea  that  a  month  of  self-denial  would  be  well  pleas- 
ing to  God.  In  regard  to  this  rite  we  have  less  dis- 
tinct testimony  from  Arabic  heathenism  that  we  have 
in  recrard  to  some  of   the  others  which  have  been 

o 
*  Koran,  22''%  a  Meccan  sura  according  to  the  superscription, 
t  Bochari,  II. ,  p.  192. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  230 

mentioned.  Certainly  the  direct  precedent  is  found 
in  Judaism  and  in  Christianity.  Tradition  distinctly 
asserts  that  Mohammed  first  established  a  fast  in  im- 
itation of  the  Jews.  When  he  came  to  Medina  ^  he 
found  them  observing  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  in 
imitation  of  them  he  commanded  his  followers  to 
observe  the  same  day  in  the  same  way.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year,  however,  he  appointed  Ramadhan  as 
a  month  of  fasting.  There  is  no  Jewish  fast  of  this 
extent,  and  as  in  that  year  he  began  to  show  his  in- 
dependence of  the  Jews,  he  was  probably  influenced 
by  the  Christian  Lent.  There  can  be  no  question  that 
he  believed  a  precedent  set  in  other  religions  :  "  O, 
believers,  fasting  is  ordained  for  you  as  it  was  or- 
dained for  those  before  you,  that  you  may  observe 
piety."  t  That  a  month  should  be  the  time  fixed,  in- 
stead of  forty  days,  need  not  cause  surprise.  The 
forty  days  had  no  special  significance  in  Islam,  and 
in  fact  was  not  constant  in  Christianity,  whereas 
Mohammed  was  already  familiar  with  the  idea  of  a 
sacred  month  or  months  in  heathenism.  His  sense  of 
the  importance  of  the  moon  as  a  measure  of  timo 
was  very  marked.  He  not  infrequently  alludes  to  the 
moon's  being  created  for  this  purpose,  and  he  went 
so  far  as  to  rearrange  the  calendar,  making  his  year 
a  strictly  lunar  3^ear.  This  was  undoubtedly  a  misfort- 

*  The  day  is  called  Ashura  (Tenth)  and  is  still  observed  by  some 
zealous  Moslems.  Bocliari,  who  gives  this  tradition,  gives  another 
to  the  effect  that  the  Koreish  also  fasted  on  tliat  day  in  heathen 
times.  But  this  requires  confirmation.  Cf.  Bochari^  11.,  p.  2ul ; 
Mishcat^  I.,  p.  4SG. 

t  Koran,  2*'^ 


240  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

une  for  the  Moslem  world,  but  we  cau  trace  the  rea- 
soning which  led  to  the  action.  God  had  made  the 
moon  for  seasons.  Out  of  every  twelve  months 
which  make  a  year  He  has  made  certain  ones  sacred. 
By  the  intercalation  of  a  month — which  was  the 
Meccan  device  for  making  the  solar  and  lunar  year 
keep  in  harmony — these  v>'ere  thrown  out  of  their 
projDer  place  :  "  The  number  of  months  in  the  sight 
of  God  is  twelve,  written  in  the  Book  of  God  on  the 
day  when  He  created  heaven  and  earth.  .  .  . 
Postponement  [of  the  sacred  months  by  intercala- 
tion] is  only  excess  of  infidelity.  The  infidels  lead 
astray  by  it,  making  a  month  profane  one  year 
and  making  [the  same  month]  sacred  another  year, 
that  they  may  agree  with  the  number  of  months  * 
which  God  has  made  sacred.  Thus  they  profane 
what  God  has  consecrated.  The  evil  of  their  deeds 
is  beautiful  in  their  eyes,  but  God  does  not  direct 
the  people  of  unbelievers."  With  this  high  idea  of 
the  month  as  the  unit  of  time,  it  is  natural  that  the 
Prophet  should  order  his  fast  accordingly.  This  gives 
us  no  light  on  the  meaning  of  the  observance,  but  the 
passage  quoted  above  seems  to  show  that  it  was  a 
means  of  showing  piety.  It  is  also  brought  into 
special  connection  with  Gabriel's  visit  to  Mohammed, 
and  this  would  agree  with  what  has  been  said  of  its 
being  a  time  when  God  comes  nearer  to  men  than  He 
comes  at  other  times. 

"We  next  come  upon  a  religious  regulation  which  is 

*  They  agree  in  the  number  of  months  but  do  not  observe  the  ex- 
act ones  which  God  has  designated,  seems  to  be  the  meaning.  The 
passage  is  5) '•'  ^ 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  241 

so  foreign  to  our  modern  thought  that  we  have  diffi- 
culty in  entering  into  the  state  of  mind  which  lies 
behind  it — I  mean  the  distinction  between  clean  and 
unclean.  From  the  Old  Testament  we  have  learned 
that  there  are  certain  things  which  the  Hebrew  could 
not  touch,  and  certain  acts  which  he  could  not  do, 
without  thereby  becoming  unfit  for  aj)proach  to  God. 
This  defilement  extended  over  a  longer  or  shorter 
period  of  time,  according  to  its  intensity,  and  could 
only  be  removed  by  a  religious  rite.  Of  the  acts 
which  render  men  unclean,  the  eating  of  certain  kinds 
of  food  is  one  of  the  most  prominent,  and  at  first 
sight  we  think  we  discover  the  reason  for  this  pro- 
hibition. Some  of  the  forbidden  objects  are  repul- 
sive to  our  taste  (mostly  because  we  are  unfamiliar 
with  them)  and  we  attribute  like  repulsion  to  the  an- 
cients. Or  else  Ave  take  refuge  in  sanitary  hypothe- 
ses and  suppose  the  animals  prohibited  to  be  dele- 
terious to  health.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  either 
of  these  reasons  will  apply  to  any  sj^stem  of  clean 
and  unclean.  The  natural  repulsion  certainly  does 
not  exist  among  the  peoples  who  are  most  affected  by 
these  laws ;  and  considerations  of  health  were  for- 
eign to  their  mode  of  thinking.  The  whole  matter  is 
a  matter  of  religious  regulation,  and  must  be  ac- 
counted for  in  the  sphere  of  religion.  When  we  give 
this  consideration  fall  weight,  we  see  that  clean  and 
unclean  are  associated  with  the  recognition  of  difTor- 
ent  gods.  He  who  has  consecrated  himself  by  wor- 
shipping one  god  cannot  immediately  come  into  the 
presence  of  another  god;  his  first  consecration  must 
be  washed  off,  or  at  least  worn  off  by  the  lapse  of 
16 


242  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

time.  All  the  more,  where  the  god  is  conceived  of 
as  a  jealous  god  like  Yahweli.  The  marks  of  a  rival 
deity  upon  a  worshipper  would  make  His  anger  flame 
out  upon  him.  In  Israel  nearly  all  animals  except 
the  animals  of  the  flock  and  herd  were  supposed  to 
belong  to  some  of  the  false  gods  or  demons.  They 
could  not  be  eaten  wdthout  bringing  the  worshipper 
into  communion  with  these  divinities.  Even  the  en- 
lightened Paul  would  not  have  his  converts  drink  of 
the  cup  of  the  Lord  and  also  of  the  cup  of  devils. 

This  Old  Testament  thought,  wdiich  is  also  slightly 
shadowed  forth  in  some  New  Testament  passages,  w^as 
familiar  to  Mohammed.  Some  regulations  of  this 
kind  he  adopted  instinctively.  He  and  his  followers 
would  not  eat  of  flesh  offered  to  idols,  taking  thus  the 
position  of  the  more  scrupulous  Clmstians  in  the 
Apostolic  age.  The  point  of  view  comes  out  clearly 
in  the  Koran  prohibition  :  "  Do  not  eat  of  that  over 
which  the  name  of  Allah  has  not  been  pronounced, 
for  this  is  sinful.  The  Satans  come  down  to  their 
companions  to  dispute  with  you,  and  if  you  eat  of 
them  you  become  idolaters."  *  The  exact  meaning 
of  the  phrase  the  Sedans  come  doum  to  their  compan- 
ions to  dispute  with  you  is  uncertain.  But  it  probably 
expresses  Mohammed's  belief  that  the  demons  are  so 
associated  with  these  offerings  that  the  believers,  in 
eating  of  the  offerings,  put  themselves  in  the  power 
of  the  demons — precisely  the  position  of  Paul  just 
alluded  to.  Mohammed  carried  out  the  argument 
logically.    His  final  decree  forbids  :  "  that  which  has 

*  Koran,  G^^i.  According  to  Origen,  the  blood  is  the  food  of  the 
demons.  Cf.  Conybeare  in  the  Jewish  Quaiierbj  Review^  October, 
1890,  p.  61. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  OOD  243 

died  [of  itself],  and  blood,  the  swine,  and  that  over 
which  any  name  exce2:)t  the  name  of  God  has  been 
pronounced,  that  which  is  strangled,  that  which  is 
smitten  down  with  a  chib,  that  which  falls  from  a 
precipice,  that  which  is  gored,  that  which  the  beast  of 
l^rey  has  torn  (unless  you  are  able  to  bleed  it),  and 
that  which  is  sacrificed  to  idols."  ^  Although  the 
list  gives  a  large  number  of  items,  we  see  that  it  is 
substantially  covered  by  the  New  Testament  prin- 
ciple. For  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  laid  upon 
Gentile  Christians  abstinence  from  things  offered  to 
idols,  from  things  strangled,  and  from  blood. 

In  view  of  what  has  been  quoted  from  Paul  there 
can  hardly  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  reasoning  upon 
which  this  decree  is  based.  The  things  offered  to  idols 
are  the  property  of  the  demons.  The  Christian  by  eat- 
ing of  them  comes  into  communion  with  the  demons. 
But  he  thereby  loses  communion  with  God.  Things 
strangled  are  forbidden  for  the  same  reason  as  that 
for  which  blood  is  forbidden.  The  blood  belongs  to 
God  and  is  unlawful  to  man — if  it  cannot  be  sacrificed 
it  must  at  least  be  carefully  separated  from  the  flesh. 
All  Mohammed's  list  may  be  explained  on  this  very 
principle — that  blood  and  idol  sacrifices  are  unlawful. 
In  this  he  considerably  modified  the  Old  Testament 
law,  dealing  freely  with  it,  as  he  did  in  some  other 
cases  we  have  noticed,-]-  but  influenced  also  by  New 
Testament  precedent. 

*  Koran,  5'. 

t  Tradition  increases  the  list  of  i)roliil)ited  foods.  The  ass  was 
added  toward  tlie  close  of  Mohammed's  life.  lie  himself  refused 
to  ejit  some  things  which  he  allowed  to  his  followers.  Possihly  he 
was  influenced   by  his  habit  acquired  in  youth.     For  the  distinc- 


24:4:  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  means  ordinarily  used  to  remove  ceremonial 
defilement  is  water.  For  the  Moslem,  therefore,  the 
ablution  is  one  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the 
service  of  God.  The  Koran  commands  :  "  O,  believ- 
ers, when  you  are  ready  for  worship,  wash  your  faces 
and  your  hands  as  far  as  the  elbows,  and  wipe  your 
heads,  and  [wash]  your  feet  as  far  as  your  ankles."  * 
In  addition  to  this,  which  is  the  ordinary  ablution,  a 
full  bath  is  ordered  for  certain  kinds  of  defilement — 
as  was  the  case  in  Judaism.  The  subject  interests  us 
here  only  as  it  is  connected  to  all  appearance  with 
the  Old  Testament  and  Rabbinical  washings,  rather 
than  with  Christian  Baptism.  Baptism  is  referred 
to  but  once  in  the  Koran,  if  indeed  it  is  referred  to 
at  all.t  It  is  possible  however  that  Mohammed's 
practice  was  influenced  not  by  the  Jews  alone,  but  by 
the  various  Gnostic  or  Pseudo-Christian  sects  which 
insisted  on  frequent  baptisms  or  ablutions.^ 

We  come  now  to  the  most  important  part  of  the 
Mohammedan  ritual — the  act  of  worship  which  we  call 
prayer.  This  is  hardly  an  exact  rendering,  as  when 
we  speak  of  prayer,  we  think  most  prominently  of 

tion  of  clean  and  unclean  in  Arab  heathenism  cf.  Wellhauscn, 
Skizzen  imd  Vorarbeiien^  III.,  p.  52. 

*  5^.  The  command  to  wipe  the  head  means  to  draw  the  wet  hands 
over  the  head.  Had  the  main  verb  continued  its  force  over  tliis 
clause  it  would  have  enjoined  scruhhing  the  head.  On  the  whole 
subject  cf.  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians^  c.  III.;  Reland,  De Religione 
Mohammedanica  (1717),  pp.  G6-77 ;  Hughes,  Dictionary  of  Islam^ 
Articles  Ablution  and  Ghusl. 

t  Koran,  2'"-  is  usually  supposed  to  name  Cliristian  Baptism. 

X  The  Elkcsaites  and  Manda^ans  (probably  tlie  Sabcans  of  the 
Koran)  are  among  these  sects.     Cf.  Herzog,  P.  11.  E',  IV.,  p.  185. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  245 

supplication.  But  the  gdlat  of  the  Moslem  does  not 
contain  any  large  element  of  supplication.  It  is  an 
act  of  divine  service,  an  act  performed  for  the  glory 
of  God  and  in  obedience  to  Him.  Like  other  parts 
of  the  ritual  it  is  not  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  be- 
liever, but  is  carefully  regulated  by  tradition,  both  as 
to  the  times  when  it  is  to  be  performed,  and  as  to  the 
ceremonies  which  must  be  observed.  Five  times  in 
the  day,  the  believer  must  perform  this  act  of  devo- 
tion, wherever  he  may  be ;  and  Christian  travellers  in 
the  East  have  frequent  occasion  to  admire  the  fidelity 
with  which  the  Moslem  tui'ns  aside  from  his  busi- 
ness or  his  amusement  to  show  his  obedience  to  his 
Maker. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  the  postures  which 
are  enjoined  by  tradition  for  this  service.  The  be- 
liever stands,  bows,  kneels,  and  prostrates  himself 
with  his  forehead  touching  the  ground.  These  acts 
follow  a  certain  sequence  making  up  a  rekah  or  pros- 
tration. A  prayer  (to  use  the  conventional  term)  is 
made  up  of  at  least  two  prostrations,  and  the  number 
may  be  increased  to  ten  or  more.  In  these  various 
postures  the  worshipper  repeats  portions  of  the 
Koran  -  and  ejaculations  of  praise.  At  certain  j)oints 
he  declares  his  belief  in  the  unity  of  God  and  the 
apostleship  of  Mohammed.  At  the  close  he  salutes 
the  angels  to  his  right  and  left.  The  chief  content 
of  what  the  believer  recites  is  the  praise  of  God. 
AVhen  Mohammed  was  asked  why  he  spent  so  much 

*  Including  always  the  Fatiha  or  opening  chapter.  Other  portions 
are  chosen  according  to  taste.  Tlie  ejaculations  are:  "Praise  be 
to  God  !  "— '^  I  extol  the  perfection  of  God  the  Great." 


246  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

time  in  devotion,  he  replied  :  "  Shall  I  not  be  a  thank- 
ful servant  ?  "  "Worship  then  is  the  recognition  of 
God's  goodness  and  of  His  Kingship.  It  is  not  man 
alone  who  praises  his  Maker.  The  whole  creation 
joins  in  ascriptions  to  Him  :  "  Dost  thou  not  see  that 
whatever  is  in  heaven  and  on  earth  praises  God,  even 
the  birds  with  expanded  wings?  Each  knows  its 
worship  [galat^  and  its  doxology,  and  God  regards 
what  they  do."  *  Such  expressions  are  frequent  in 
the  Koran,  and  they  show  what  Mohammed  regarded 
as  the  proper  service  of  the  creature. 

The  importance  of  worship  was  rated  very  highly 
by  Mohammed.  He  came  out  of  the  house  one  day 
in  winter  when  leaves  were  falling  from  the  trees. 
He  took  two  branches  from  a  tree,  and  the  leaves  be- 
gan to  drop  from  them.  Remarking  this,  he  said  to 
his  companion  :  *'  Believers  say  their  prayers  for  the 
satisfaction  of  God,  and  their  faults  drop  from  them 
like  the  leaves  from  these  branches."  t  In  another 
tradition  he  is  represented  as  saying  that  the  most 
pleasing  thing  to  God  is  prayer  at  its  appointed 
times.  Again,  he  called  prayer  a  Kqffara,  that  is  an 
atonement,  which  covers  sins  from  the  sight  of  God. 
In  another  place  he  says  :  "If  one  washed  five  times 
a  day  in  a  river  which  flowed  at  his  door,  how  much 
filth  would  remain  upon  him  ?  So  God  washes  away 
sin  by  the  five  daily  prayers."  If  we  may  believe 
tradition  further,  he  carried  his  view  of  the  importance 
of  prayer  to  such  an  extreme  as  to  sa}^  a  man  is  justi- 
fied in  repulsing  one  who  interrupts  his  prayers  even 
if  he  thereby  kills  him.  As  it  is  added  for  he  is  a 
*  Koran,  24".  t  Mishcat,  I.,  p.  130. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  OOD  247 

Satan,  we  may  suppose  that  Mohammed  was  disturbed 
in  his  devotions  by  the  evil  one  in  visible  form — the 
parallel  with  Luther  will  occur  to  every  one.  Other 
traditions  affirm  that  he  had  often  to  contend  against 
the  distraction  of  his  thoughts  in  his  devotions,  and 
that  he  ascribed  this  to  Satan.  In  the  tradition  before 
us,  therefore,  he  was  only  counselling  strenuous  resis- 
tance to  such  an  interrupter  of  prayers;  against  a 
diabolical  enemy  one  may  use  any  violence.* 

Another  evidence  of  Mohammed's  estimate  of  the 
value  of  the  prescribed  worship  is  seen  in  another 
tradition.  This  is  to  the  effect  that  Moslems  who 
are  condemned  to  hell  will  be  known  by  the  callouses 
made  upon  their  knees  by  their  habit  of  prayer,  for 
over  these  spots  the  fire  will  have  no  pov/er ;  and 
men  thus  marked  will  finally  be  redeemed  from  the 
place  of  torment. 

Turning  now  to  the  question  where  Mohammed  got 
his  idea  of  worship,  we  cannot  doubt  that  he  got  it 
from  a  Christian  source.  Any  one  who  has  seen 
public  service  in  the  Eastern  Church,  in  any  of  its 
branches,  will  have  noticed  how  the  congregation 
take  part  by  kneeling,  bowing,  crossing  themselves, 
and  joining  in  the  responses.  Very  likely  in  some 
of  his  journey ings  Mohammed  had  seen  such  a  ser- 
vice. If  not,  we  can  readily  suppose  that  his  Chris- 
tian friends  at  Mecca  would  exemplify  such  a  service. 
The  sacraments,  of  course,  they  could  not  illustrate, 
not  being  priests ;  and  these,  being  mysteries  of  the 
faith,  they  would  be  shy  even  of  describing  to  a 
foreigner.     With   such   elements  as  they  gave  him, 

*  The  examples  are  taken  from  Uochari^  1.,  pp.  123  f  ,  ll'J. 


248  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Mohammed  arranged  a  ritual  for  himself.  Its  ele- 
ments were  the  various  attitudes  of  worship  exempli- 
fied by  the  Christians,  and  such  words  of  praise  as 
were  recited  by  them  from  the  Psalms.  With  no 
mind  for  mysteries  or  a  priesthood,  the  Prophet 
found  his  simple  litui'gy  sufficient  for  himself,  and 
for  the  community  that  gathered  about  him. 

The  number  of  five  prayers  daily  has  no  direct 
Biblical  precedent.  Daniel  seems  to  have  prayed 
three  times  daily,  and  the  Psalmist  specifies  morning, 
evening,  and  noon  as  the  times  of  prayer.  It  is  a 
curious  coincidence  that  the  only  passage  of  the 
Koran  which  gives  the  number  of  prayers  also  speci- 
fies three :  *'  Perform  worship  at  the  setting  of  the 
sun,  up  to  the  darkness  of  night,  and  the  Eecitation 
of  the  dawn  (the  recitation  of  the  dawn  is  witnessed 
by  the  angels),  and  in  the  night.  Awake  to  prayer, 
therefore,  perchance  thy  Lord  will  prepare  for  thee  a 
glorious  place."  '^  Exegesis  has  found  a  w^ay  to  make 
these  verses  prescribe  the  five  customary  seasons,  but 
on  their  face  they  speak  of  only  three.  In  the  Church 
the  canonical  hours  vary  from  three  to  seven  daily. 
The  Manichseans  are  said  to  have  had  four  and  the 
Mandaeans  five.f  It  is  possible  that  Mohammed's 
own  custom  varied  at  different  times.  Tradition  says 
that  in  the  Night-journey,  God  commanded  him  at 
first  fifty  prayers  daily.  At  the  advice  of  Moses,  who 
had  had  experience  with  human  weakness,  he  asked 
successive   reductions  of  the   number  until   it  was 

*  Koran,  17^"  ^  cf .  Ps.  55'«. 

t  Ilerzog,  P.  R.  E-,  IX.,  p.  241.  Brandt,  Manddische  Religion, 
p.  92,  ascribes  seven  to  the  Mandaeans. 


TEE  SERVICE  OF  OOD  249 

brought  down  to  five.  We  have  already  seen  an  ascetic 
tendency  in  Mohammed's  earlier  impulse.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  he  began  with  the  observance  of  more  fre- 
quent hours  of  worship  than  he  was  able  to  keep  up 
in  his  later  practice.  In  fact  he  has  supplemented 
one  of  his  early  revelations  with  a  command  to  mod- 
erate the  excesses  of  his  devotion  (73'"). 

Although  the  regular  j)rayers  are  largely  formal, 
we  must  not  forget  that  Islam  encourages  voluntary 
prayers.  I  do  not  refer  here  to  works  of  superero- 
gation, to  which  pious  Moslems  are  much  addicted. 
When  Mohammed  says :  "  And  remember  thy  Lord 
in  thy  soul  in  humility  and  fear,  and  without  raising 
the  voice,"  "^  we  can  hardly  suppose  he  means  to  com- 
mand the  constant  repetition  of  the  name  of  God 
which  forms  the  worship  of  the  dervishes.  He  is, 
rather,  encouraging  the  believer  in  communing  with 
God.  He  laid  stress  on  the  correct  performance  of 
prayer,  but  he  also  laid  stress  on  the  intention.  He 
was  accustomed  himself  to  offer  voluntary  petitions, 
both  after  the  regular  prayers  and  at  other  times. 
He  gives  in  the  Koran  examples  of  prayer,  and  these 
are  real  prayers  ;  that  is,  petitions  for  blessings  both 
spiritual  and  temporal,  the  spiritual  being  promi- 
nent. For  example :  "  O  Lord  do  not  punish  us  for 
our  sins  of  negligence  or  for  our  errors ;  and  do  not 
lay  upon  us  a  law  such  as  Thou  didst  lay  upon  those 
who  preceded  us :  f  O  Lord  do  not  enjoin  upon  us 
that  for  which  we  have  not  the  ability ;  blot  out  our 

*  Koran,  V>*. 

t  He  means  the  Children  of  Israel,  whose  Law  he  thought  bur- 
densome.    The  verse  is  2'*''. 


250  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

sins  and  forgive  us ;  be  gracious  to  us,  Thou  our 
Lord,  and  aid  us  against  a  people  of  unbelievers."  It 
seems  impossible  to  suppose  such  a  prayer  composed 
without  a  vivid  sense  of  sin,  and  without  assurance 
that  God  is  the  rewarder  of  those  who  seek  Him. 
In  another  verse  of  the  same  chapter  we  read :  "When 
My  servants  ask  thee  concerning  Me — then  verily  I 
am  near,  and  I  answer  the  petition  of  the  worshipper 
when  he  prays  to  Me ;  then  let  them  seek  Me  and 
believe  in  Me  that  they  may  walk  in  the  right  way.""^ 
The  example  of  the  Prophet  was  in  accordance  with 
this,  for  he  embodied  in  his  daily  worship  petitions 
for  himself  and  his  friends.  There  is  a  tradition 
which  even  affirms  that  a  man  shut  out  of  Paradise 
could  get  in  by  importunate  pi-ayer.  But  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  this  correctly  represents  the  mind  of 
Mohammed.  As  to  the  efficacy  of  prayer  in  the  pres- 
ent life,  however,  he  seems  to  have  had  no  doubt. 

So  much  for  that  part  of  the  service  of  God  which 
consists  in  ritual.  We  cannot  deny  that  in  the  religious 
law  too  much  emphasis  is  laid  upon  external  observ- 
ances. But  what  has  just  been  said  is  enough  to  show 
that  mere  formality  was  not  Mohammed's  ideal.  He 
desired  to  foster  spiritual  faith  and  unfeigned  piety. 
Turning  now  to  the  other  side  of  the  service  of  God, 
what  we  include  under  the  head  of  morals,  we  dis- 
cover that  there  was  a  great  advance  over  heathenism, 
in  that  the  sense  of  responsibility  to  God  was  en- 
forced by  all  the  preaching  of  Mohammed  :  "  A  man 
is  a  shepherd,  and  what  is  committed  to  him  (as  his 
family  and  his  property)  is  his  flock  and  he  will  be 

*  Koran,  2' ^^ 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  251 

inquired  of  conceruing  it  in  the  Last  Day — even  a 
slave  will  give  account  of  the  way  in  which  he  has 
administered  his  master's  property."  "^  The  tradition 
reminds  us  of  the  New  Testament  parable  of  the 
talents,  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  thought  is  the 
same :  Man  is  responsible  to  his  Maker,  and  for  all 
his  actions  he  must  give  account. 

The  distinctly  ethical  character  of  the  obligation 
thus  laid  upon  men  is  seen  on  almost  every  page  of 
the  Koran.  Several  extended  passages  might  be 
quoted  which  were  evidently  intended  to  set  forth  the 
whole  duty  of  man.     Let  me  quote  just  one  : 

*'The  servants  of  the  Compassionate  are  they  who  walk 
humbly  on  the  earth,  and,  when  the  barbarians  address 
them,  say  :  Peace  be  with  you  !  And  [they  are  they]  who 
pass  the  night  prostrate  before  their  Lord  or  standing  [in 
prayer] ;  and  who  say;  Our  Lord  avert  from  us  the  punish- 
ment of  Gehenna,  for  its  punishment  is  lasting  and  it  is  an 
evil  place  of  abode  ;  who,  when  they  expend,  are  neither 
lavish  nor  niggardly  but  maintain  a  just  mean  between  the 
two ;  who  do  not  call  upon  any  God  in  the  presence  of 
Allah  ;  and  who  do  not  slay  human  beings — which  God 
forbids — except  in  the  cause  of  Justice  ;  and  who  do  not  com- 
mit adultery,  for  Avhoever  does  this  shall  incur  punishment 
(his  pain  shall  be  doubled  in  the  Day  of  Resurrection,  and 
he  shall  be  an  object  of  contempt  forever,  unless  he  repent 
and  believe  and  do  good — as  for  such,  God  will  exchange 
their  evil  deeds  for  good  deeds ;  God  is  forgiving  and 
compassionate,  and  he  w^ho  repents  and  does  good  is 
sincere  in  his  turning  towards  God).  And  [they  are  they] 
who  do  not  bear  false  witness  ;  and,  when  tliey  pass  by  vain 
discourse,  pass  by  in  honor ;  and  who,  when  they  are  told 
of  the  revelations  of  their  Lord,  do  not  depart  [as  though] 

*  Buchari,  L,  p.  198. 


252  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

deaf  and  blind  ;  and  [they  are]  those  who  say  :  Our  Lord, 
give  us  comfort  in  our  wives  and  children,  and  make  us  an 
example  to  those  wdio  fear  Thee.  These  shall  be  recom- 
pensed with  Paradise  *  because  they  have  endured  ;  and 
there  shall  they  obtain  life  and  peace.  Beautiful  is  such  a 
place  of  abode  !  "  f 

Siicli  passages  sliow  tlie  distinctly  ethical  cbaracter 
of  Islam;  and  the  fact  that  the  virtues  here  com- 
manded may  easily  be  classified  under  ten  heads, 
makes  us  inquire  what  influence  the  Decalogue  had 
on  the  thought  of  Mohammed.  We  easily  discover 
that  he  had  some  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  Ten 
AVords,  though  he  nowhere  calls  them  by  this  name. 
He  endeavors  to  reproduce  them  in  the  following 
passage  addressed  to  the  Jews  : 

"Come,  I  will  repeat  what  your  Lord  forbade  you  to  do; 
[He  commanded]  that  you  should  not  associate  anything 
with  Him;  and  [He  commanded]  good  conduct  towards 
parents ;  and  do  not  kill  your  children  on  account  of 
poverty — We  will  nourish  you  and  them — and  do  not  ap- 

*  Literally :  a  high  place,  meaning  apparently  the  most  exalted 
of  the  heavens. 

t  Koran,  25®^''",  In  the  Traditions  we  find  some  resemblance  to  the 
Christian  classification  of  seven  deadly  sins  :  "Flee  the  seven  that 
cast  into  hell.  They  asked  what  these  were  and  he  replied  :  Poly- 
theism, magic,  murder,  usury,  devouring  the  property  of  orphans, 
fleeing  in  time  of  war,  and  accusing  chaste  women  of  unbecoming 
conduct."  Bochari^  III.,  p.  179.  Mohammed  said  also  :  "  There  are 
seven  whom  God  will  shade  with  his  shadow  in  the  day  when  there 
will  be  no  other  shade  than  His  :  a  just  ruler,  a  young  man  Avho 
grows  up  in  the  service  of  God,  a  man  wliose  heart  cleaves  to  the 
mosques,  two  men  who  love  each  other  for  the  love  of  God,  a  man 
Avlio  resists  temptation  by  the  fear  of  God,  and  a  man  who  gives 
alms  and  conceals  it  so  that  his  left  hand  does  not  know  what  his 
right  hand  does." — Bochari^  II.,  p.  lOG. 


TUE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  253 

proach  anything  evil,  whether  it  be  concealed  or  manifest ; 
and  do  not  kill  a  human  being  (which  God  has  forbidden 
except  in  accordance  with  justice,  and  He  enjoined  you  this 
that  you  might  have  understanding) ;  and  do  not  approach 
the  property  of  the  orphan,  except  to  his  profit,  until  he 
reaches  his  majority ;  and  use  a  just  measure  and  scale — 
We,  on  Our  part,  do  not  exact  from  any  soul  more  than  its 
ability;  and  when  you  speak  be  just,  even  to  relatives  :  and 
keep  the  covenant  of  God.  These  things  He  commanded 
you  that  you  should  remember."  * 

If  we  count  up  the  separate  commands  embodied 
in  this  list  we  shall  find  them  to  be  nine  in  number. 
In  a  tradition  also  we  find  that  the  Jews  came  to 
discuss  with  Mohammed  concerning  the  nine  com- 
mands of  God.  This  is  in  fact  the  Jewish  computa- 
tion, for  of  the  Ten  Words  in  their  division,  the  first 
is  the  opening  announcement :  I  am  Yahweh  thy 
God  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out 
of  the  house  of  slaves.  There  are  therefore  nine  com- 
mands. But  w^hen  Ave  examine  the  nine  of  Mohammed 
Ave  see  that  they  do  not  correspond  with  those  of  the 
Hebrew  code.  He  left  the  Sabbath  out  of  view  alto- 
gether. He  knows  it,  as  we  discover  from  other  refer- 
ences, but  he  does  not  give  it  a  place  among  God's 
commands.  We  easily  discover  the  reason  for  this. 
The  Sabbath  is  practicable  only  among  agricultural 
or  hand-Avorking  peoj)le.  A  pastoral  people  must  herd 
the  flocks  and  milk  them  seven  days  in  the  Avcek, 
or  their  subsistence  perishes.  The  Jcav  Avere  an  in- 
dustrial people.  Those  at  Medina  were  mainly  culti- 
vators or  goldsmiths.  They  observed  the  Sabbath. 
But  Mohammed's  people  Avere  mainly  Bedawiu.     It 

*  Koran,  6'^-  ^ 


254  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

seemed  impossible  to  impose  a  day  of  rest  upon  tliem. 
He  did  not  hesitate  therefore  to  abrogate  it  —  the 
Sabbath  is  intended  only  for  the  Jews,  is  in  fact  his 
round  assertion.'^ 

We  see  from  this  instance,  that  Mohammed  did  not 
feel  that  an  unchangeable  God  would  enact  an  un- 
changeable code.  In  regard  to  some  other  Mosaic 
resfulations,  he  admitted  their  divine  character  but 
denied  that  they  were  binding  upon  later  sects  :  "  And 
for  the  sin  of  the  Jews,  We  forbade  them  good  things 
that  had  been  law^ful  to  them,  and  because  they 
turned  away  from  the  path  of  God."  t  We  remember 
that  in  the  New  Testament  also,  some  of  the  Mosaic 
ordinances  are  said  to  have  been  given  the  people  for 
the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  A  polemic  utterance 
against  the  Old  Testament  reason  for  the  Sabbath, 
seems  contained  in  the  words :  "  We  created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  what  is  between  them  in 
six  days,  and  no  fatigue  affected  Us."  J  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  doubt  that  there  is  a  reference  here  to  the 
declaration  that  God  rested  the  seventh  day.  Since 
neither  the  advantages  of  the  Sabbath,  nor  the  reason 
given  for  its  observance,  commended  themselves  to  Mo- 
hammed, he  refused  to  re-enact  it.  The  Friday  w^hich 
he  chose  as  his  day  of  religious  observance  w^as  not 
intended  as  a  Sabbath  in  the  Old  Testament  sense. 

The  first  command  of  Mohammed's  Decalogue  for- 

*  "  The  Sabbath  is  made  only  for  those  who  dispute  concerning 
it " — by  which  he  means  the  Jews  who  were  arguing  with  him  for  its 
adoption— Koran,  16^", 

1  50". 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  255 

bids  associating  any  other  object  of  worship  with  the 
true  God.  With  his  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God 
this  is  what  we  may  expect.  And  in  his  common- 
wealth, as  soon  as  he  was  strong  enough,  he  made 
this  a  crime  to  be  punished  by  the  judges.  So  in  the 
Old  Testament  we  find  stringent  measures  com- 
manded against  every  one  who  practised  or  encour- 
aged the  worship  of  false  gods.*  It  follows  that 
apostasy  from  Islam  is  punished  with  death :  "  If 
they  tui-n  their  backs,  then  take  them  and  kill  them, 
and  do  not  take  any  of  them  as  friends  or  helpers.  "  f 
This  was  probably  intended  for  those  who  relapsed 
into  heathenism  after  having  professed  Islam.  It 
was  early  applied,  however,  to  those  Moslems  who 
were  converted  to  Judaism  or  Christianity.  It  is  still 
the  theory  of  Mohammedan  law  everywhere  that  such 
converts  should  be  put  to  death. 

The  other  commands  of  the  Decalogue  given  by 
Mohammed  cover  very  fairly  the  second  table  of 
Moses'  Law.  To  appreciate  his  view  of  man's  obli- 
gations toward  his  fellow  we  need  to  look  at  the  dif- 
ference in  principle  between  him  and  the  heathenism 
which  he  overthrew.  In  heathen  Arabia,  as  in  all 
early  society,  moral  obligations  were  connected  with 
the  blood.  The  members  of  the  clan  were  brothers. 
In  such  a  society,  virtue  consists  in  acting  for  the 
common  blood,  either  in  defending  it  from  attack 
from  the  outside,  or  in  fostering  it  by  liberality  with- 
in. This  tribal  sj^stem  was  in  full  force  in  Moham- 
med's time  even  in  Mecca,  where  the  different  clans 
lived  in  different  quarters  of  the  city,  each  with  its 
♦Deut    13.  t  Koran,  -i  '. 


256  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

separate  wall  and  gates.  The  common  interest  of  tlie 
citj  was  protected  only  by  treaties  between  the  clans. 
In  Medina  the  different  clans  were  frequently  at  war, 
and  before  the  coming  of  Mohammed,  a  continuous 
feud  had  been  carried  on  so  long  as  to  threaten  the  ex- 
termination of  the  population.  Now  Mohammed  sub- 
stituted the  bond  of  faith  for  the  bond  of  blood  :  "  O, 
you  who  believe  !  Fear  God  in  sincerity,  and  do  not 
die  without  being  resigned  [to  Him] ;  and  hold  fast,  all 
of  you,  on  the  bond  of  God,  and  be  not  divided ;  and 
remember  the  grace  of  God  tov/ards  you  when  you 
Avere  enemies,  how  He  united  your  hearts,  and  by  His 
grace  you  became  brethren."  ^'  The  men  whom  he  ad- 
dressed had  been  members  of  different  tribes  and 
therefore  enemies.  The  word  of  Paul  concernincc 
Christians  before  their  conversion — that  they  had  been 
full  of  hate — was  true  also  of  those  whom  Mohammed 
addressed.  It  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive  the  great- 
ness of  the  change  wrought  in  them  by  the  substitution 
of  the  new  tie  of  faith  for  the  old  tie  of  family.  The 
greatness  of  the  change  is  shown  by  the  difficulty  with 
which  it  was  brought  about.  In  the  stormy  times 
through  which  the  infant  commonwealth  passed,  it 
seemed  again  and  again  as  if  the  old  feuds  would  break 
out.  But  faith  triumphed  over  the  old  bonds,  and  the 
brotherhood  of  believers  was  established.  Tradition 
has  preserved  some  striking  instances  of  the  reality  of 
the  change.  One  was  the  case  of  the  son  of  Abdallah 
Ibn  Obay.  Abdallah  had  been  the  most  influential  man 
in  Medina  before  the  coming  of  Mohammed.  Although 
he  yielded  to  the  majority,  and  professed  allegiance 

*  Koran,  3 ''  f. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  257 

to  Mohammed,  lie  was  never  heartily  a  believer,  and 
his  lukevv^armness  or  his  secret  machinations  placed 
many  a  thorn  in  the  pillow  of  Mohammed.  At  one 
time  he  so  far  forgot  his  ordinary  prudence  as  to 
speak  openly  of  Mohammed  in  abusive  language. 
Thereupon  the  son  went  to  Mohammed  aud  offered 
to  kill  his  father  with  his  own  hand,  declaring  that  it 
was  better  for  him  to  be  the  executioner  than  another 
— for  if  another  should  do  it  he  would  be  moved  to 
take  blood  revenge,  and  so  become  a  transgressor. 
In  another  instance,  a  Moslem  at  Mohammed's  in- 
stigation put  to  death  a  Jew  who  had  shown  him 
many  favors  in  times  past.  The  brother  of  the  ex- 
ecutioner reproached  him  with  murdering  his  bene- 
factor. The  only  reply  was :  "If  he  who  ordered  me 
to  kill  him  should  order  me  to  kill  thee  I  would 
obey."  Wlien  the  brother  assured  himself  that  this 
was  said  in  earnest,  he  was  so  impressed  with  the 
power  of  the  new  religion,  that  he  became  a  convert 
on  the  spot.*  These  examples  show  how  the  new 
principle  was  realized.  They  show  its  less  attrac- 
tive side,  to  be  sure.  But  we  cannot  doubt  that  its 
strength  against  enemies  is  the  measure  of  its  strength 
within  the  community.  In  his  farewell  pilgrimage, 
Mohammed  declared  that,  like  the  sacred  month  and 
the  sacred  territory,  God  had  made  the  life  and  prop- 
erty of  every  Moslem  inviolable  to  every  other  Mos- 
lem until  the  end  of  time.f 

In  adopting  faith  as  the  principle  of  his  commu- 
nity instead  of  blood,  Mohammed  was  probably  under 

*Wellhauson,   17d-,vZi,  p.  98. 

f  Muir,  Life  of  Mahomet^  IV.,  p.  23D. 

17 


258  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Christian  influence.  The  social  organization  in  view 
in  the  Old  Testament  was  the  chosen  people.  And 
this  people  was  a  group  of  clans  allied  by  blood  and 
tracing  descent  from  a  common  ancestor — Abraham 
or  Israel  as  the  case  may  be.  In  substance  this  was 
the  constitution  of  the  Arabs  before  Mohammed. 
The  Prophets,  indeed,  in  their  visions  of  the  coming 
kingdom  see  that  all  men  are  to  partake  of  the  bless- 
ings of  Israel.  But  they  do  not  seem  to  proclaim 
that  simple  faith  in  Yahweh  is  enough  to  make  all 
men  kin.  They  are  content  to  leave  the  great  con- 
summation to  the  future,  where  divine  power  will 
effect  what  is  incomprehensible  to  men.  It  was  the 
New  Testament  which  brought  believers  into  a 
brotherhood  "  where  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek, 
neither  bond  nor  free,  neither  male  nor  female."  Mo- 
hammed must  have  heard  of  this  from  Christians. 
The  Jews  who  came  under  his  observation  were  as 
exclusive  as  the  heathen.  They  were  in  fact  organ- 
ized on  the  principle  of  the  Arab  clans,  and  they  did 
not  let  their  faith  keep  them  even  from  w\arring 
against  each  other,  clan  against  clan.  Mohammed 
grasped  the  Christian  idea  of  the  brotherhood  of  be- 
lievers and  organized  his  society  on  that  basis.  That 
he  did  not  rise  to  the  height  of  the  Christian  concep- 
tion of  the  brotherhood  of  all  men  can  scarcely  excite 
surprise,  when  we  see  how  far  the  Church  is  from  ap- 
prehending this  conception  even  to  the  present  day. 

Christian  influence  is  suggested  further  by  various 
expressions  used  by  Mohammed — though  as  we  get 
our  knowledge  of  them  from  tradition,  we  may  sus- 
pect that  they  are  colored  somewhat  by  the  memory 


THE  SERVICE  OF  GOD  259 

of  the  narrators.  In  regard  to  tlie  brotlierbood  of 
believers,  lie  is  reported  to  Lave  said :  "  Believers 
are  like  a  building,  one  part  of  which  strengthens 
another  " — and  he  interlaced  his  fingers  to  illustrate 
the  union  of  materials  in  a  building.  So  in  the 
New  Testament,  believers  are  builded  together  into 
a  temple.  In  some  Koran  passages  he  describes  be- 
lievers as  those  who  reioel  evil  luith  goody  where  we  are 
tempted  to  see  a  reminiscence  of  the  New  Testament 
exhortation  to  overcome  evil  with  good. 

Some  other  verbal  resemblances  might  be  pointed 
out,  but  it  is  time  for  us  to  turn  our  attention  to  two 
subjects  in  which  the  Moslem  world  now  sharply  dis- 
tinguishes itself  from  Christendom.  The  first  of 
these  is  slavery.  This  institution  already  existed  in 
full  vigor  in  Arabia  in  the  time  of  Mohammed.  A 
slave  market  existed  at  Mecca  into  which  came  those 
Arabs  who  were  made  captive  in  the  wars  between 
the  tribes,  as  well  as  the  human  merchandise  im- 
ported from  beyond  the  borders  of  the  peninsula. 
Even  in  time  of  peace,  a  defenceless  man  might  bo 
kidnapped  and  sold.  Mohammed  did  not  dream  of 
abolishing  slavery.  But  he  greatly  mitigated  its  avils. 
He  exhorted  masters  to  clothe  their  slaves  Avith 
the  same  kind  of  garments  which  they  wore  them- 
selves, and  to  feed  them  with  the  same  kind  of  food 
which  they  themselves  ate.  And  he  added  as  a 
reason :  "  They  are  your  brothers  whom  God  has 
made  subject    to  3'ou."*     Further,    he    encouraged 

*  Goldziher,  Muhammedanische  Studien^  I.,  p.  73.  I  have  not 
now  the  reference  to  Bocliari.  On  the  slave  market  in  INIecea  cf. 
W.  R.  Smitli,  Kinship  and  Marriage^  p.  73 ;  Wellhauscn,  Skizzcn, 
und  Vorarheiten^  I.,  p.  119. 


260  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

manumission,  making  it  a  merifcorious  work  and  rec- 
ommending it  as  one  of  the  means  of  atoning  for 
sins  of  omission.  Finally,  by  the  emphasis  of  the 
brotherhood  of  believers  he  did  much  to  secure 
mild  treatment  of  slaves  on  the  part  of  their  masters. 
In  all  this,  Islam  did  as  much  as  was  done  either  by 
Judaism  or  Christianity.  Islam  has,  however,  failed 
to  keep  up  with  the  progress  of  humanity  in  this  as 
in  so  many  other  respects.  That,  in  the  Middle  Age, 
Christianity  had  little  to  boast  of  as  compared  with 
Islam,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  slaves  were  a  staple 
of  the  Venetian  trade  to  the  East,  and  were  exported 
from  the  domains  of  the  Pope  himself.  Prelates  even 
were  accused  of  taking  the  children  of  their  serfs  and 
selling  them  to  the  Jews,  through  whose  hands  they 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Moslems."^ 

The  other  matter  is  one  in  which  the  custom  of  Is- 
lam is  most  repugnant  to  our  ideas — I  mean  the  law 
of  marriage  and  divorce. f  In  our  dislike  of  the  pres- 
ent practice  of  Moslems,  however,  we  must  not  forget 
that  Mohammed  did  improve  upon  the  customs  of  hea- 
thenism. Among  the  sins  which  he  most  strictly  for- 
bade was  adultery.     When  the  deputation  from  Me- 

*  Kremer,  Kulturgeschichte  des  Orients  unter  den  Chalifen.,  II., 
p. 153. 

t  In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  about  the  duties  of  man  to 
man  we  should  in  justice  to  Islam  notice  the  following  points  :  (1) 
Honor  to  parents  is  emphasized,  cf.  Koran  l?-^*";  (2)  The  punish- 
ment of  the  murder  of  a  Moslem  is  death,  and  for  injury  of  the 
person  the  lex  talionis  is  enforced  as  in  the  Old  Testament;  (3)  The 
payment  of  just  dues  is  enforced,  and  (by  tradition)  trade  is  regu- 
lated so  as  to  prevent  unfairness ;  (4)  Usury  is  prohibited  as  in  the 
Old  Testament. 


THE  SERVICE  OF  QOD  261 

dina  svrore  allegiance  to  him  before  the  Flight,  he 
pledged  them  not  to  commit  this  sin.*  When  asked 
to  name  the  three  gi-eatest  crimes,  this  was  one  of  the 
three.f  In  the  passage  cited  above,  he  says :  "  Do 
not  approach  anything  evil."  He  probably  means  to 
prohibit  incitements  to  lust.  He  forbade  the  price 
of  a  dog,  the  reward  of  fornication,  and  the  pay  of  a 
soothsa^^er — a  conjunction  that  reminds  us  of  an  Old 
Testament  prohibition.  In  the  early  part  of  his  reign 
at  Medina  ho  ordered  one  of  his  followers  to  be  stoned 
on  confession  of  adultery.  When  a  deputation  from 
the  important  city  of  Taif  came  with  the  offer  that 
the  city  would  become  Moslem  if  the  commands 
against  usury,  adultery,  and  wine  were  modified,  the 
Prophet  refused  any  concession.^  These  are  suffi- 
cient proof  that  Mohammed  had  no  desire  to  encour- 
age license,  and  that,  in  fact,  his  law  was  considerably 
more  strict  than  the  custom  of  his  ancestors.  His 
ideal  of  marriage  was  high,  for  he  says  :  "A  Moslem 
has  not  obtained,  after  righteousness,  anything  bet- 
ter than  a  good  dispositioned,  beautiful  wife ;  such  a 
wife  as,  when  ordered  by  her  husband  to  do  anything, 
obeys ;  and  if  her  husband  looks  at  her,  is  happy ; 
and,  if  her  husband  swears  by  her  to  do  anything, 
she  does  it,  to  make  him  a  swearer  to  the  truth ; 
and  if  he  is  absent  from  her  she  wishes  him  well  and 
guards  her  person  and  takes  care  of  his  property."  § 

*  Or  fornication,  the  Arabic  word  includes  both. 

t  Polytheism,  infanticide,  and  adultery.   Mishcai^  I.,  pp.  8,  18,  20. 

X  Wellhausen,  Vakidi^  p.  383.  In  addition  to  these  indications,  I 
might  adduce  the  tradition  tliat  Mohammed  prohibited  the  Muia 
marriages— marriages  for  a  specified  time. 

§  Mishcat^  II.  p.  7d. 


262  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

With  such  an  ideal,  it  seems  as  if  he  might  have 
done  more  for  the  elevation  of  marriage. 

That  he  did  not  do  more  is  probably  due  to  his  not 
having  had  knowledge  of  what  Christianity  really 
teaches.  As  we  very  well  know,  the  Church  early 
obscured  the  true  doctrine  of  marriage  by  the  prom- 
inence it  gave  to  celibacy.  Now  the  doctrine  that 
marriage  is  inferior  to  celibacy  is  one  from  which 
the  Arab  revolts.  The  importance  of  preserving  the 
family  name,  and  of  keeping  up  the  strength  of  the 
clan,  causes  him  to  value  children  above  all  other 
blessings.  He  stands  just  where  the  Hebrews  of  the 
Old  Testament  stood.  He  has  therefore  no  mind  to 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church.  *'  We  sent  Jesus  the  Son 
of  Mary  (he  says  in  the  Koran  ^)  and  gave  him  the 
Gospel,  and  placed  in  the  hearts  of  those  who  fol- 
lowed him  pity  and  compassion — hut  the  monastic  life 
they  themselves  invented.'"  This  shows  that  Moham- 
med, finding  the  ideal  presented  by  Christianity  a 
perverted  one,  fell  back  upon  the  position  common  to 
Hebrews  and  Arabs.  He  justifies  himself  in  his  own 
polygamy  by  the  example  of  the  prophets  who  had 
preceded  him,  having  David  and  Solomon  especially 
in  mind. 

The  real  evil  in  Eastern  society  is  not  so  much 
polygamy  as  the  freedom  of  divorce.  Comparatively 
few  Mohammedans  have  more  than  one  wife  at  a  time. 
But  there  are  comparatively  few  who  have  not  put 
away  more  than  one  wife  in  order  to  take  another.  Now 
divorce  was  repugnant  to  Mohammed.  He  never  sent 
away  a  wife,  though  some  of  them  gave  him  anything 

*  Koran,  57". 


TUE  SERVICE  OF  OOD  2G3 

but  a  peaceful  time.  He  tried  to  regulate  divorce, 
making  it  more  difficult.  That  tlie  attempted  regula- 
tion would  produce  new  evils  lie  did  not  foresee.  It 
did  not  occur  to  him  that  he  could  prohibit  divorce 
— the  disciples  of  Jesus  also  found  it  impossible  to 
suppose  such  a  prohibition  practicable.  In  fact, 
Mohammed  stood  substantially  upon  Jewish  ground, 
for  the  Jewish  law  allows  the  husband  to  put  away 
his  wife  if  he  find  any  serious  fault  in  her.'^ 

A  curious  but  not  edifying  phase  of  this  subject, 
is  the  influence  which  Mohammed's  own  experiences 
with  women  had  upon  his  legislation.  As  it  does  not 
bear  directly  upon  our  subject  we  need  not  discuss 
it  here.  Probably  there  is  in  all  history  no  more 
striking  example  of  the  extent  to  which  a  regulation 
based  on  the  experience  of  a  single  individual  has 
affected  a  vast  multitude  of  men  for  a  long  period  of 
time.f  The  failure  to  distinguish  between  personal 
impulses  and  eternal  laws  has  inflicted  this  lasting 
calamity  on  Eastern  society. 

In  the  last  lecture  we  discovered  that  the  revela- 
tion of  Mohammed  is  regarded  as  a  LaAV.  What  was 
there  said  is  fully  borne  out  by  what  we  have  seen 

*  Even  if  she  burn  the  bread  in  baking,  according  to  one  school  of 
Scribes. 

t  The  jealousy  of  the  uxorious  old  man  led  to  the  command  that 
all  women  should  wear  veils,  which  is  still  the  rule  of  Eastern  so- 
ciety. The  desire  to  shield  his  favorite  wife  from  a  scandal,  pro- 
duced the  law  that  four  witnesses  should  be  brought  to  prove  a 
charge  of  adultery,  and  the  accuser  who  cannot  produce  these  must 
receive  eighty  stripes.  This  law  causes  Eastern  husbands  to  keep 
their  wives  under  constant  guard  because  of  the  difficulty  of  proving 
unfaithfulness.  What  the  seclusion  of  women  has  done  for  Moslem 
society  I  need  not  say. 


264  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to-clay.  Koran  and  tradition  occupy,  to  the  Moham- 
medan, exactly  the  place  which  the  Jew  gives  to 
Tora  and  Mishna.  Life  is  to  be  regulated  in  its 
most  minute  details  by  the  law  given  by  God  Him- 
self. The  conservatism  which  is  thereby  given  to 
Islam  has  already  been  noticed.  A  further  conse- 
quence is  only  too  evident.  The  emphasis  laid  upon 
obedience  to  a  set  of  rules,  stimulates  a  formal  and 
external  righteousness.  The  process  is  precisely  that 
illustrated  in  Judaism.  On  one  side  it  becomes  all 
important  to  know  the  law.  The  Koran,  like  the 
Tora,  is  a  complicated  code.  It  contains  a  gi'eat 
variety  of  enactments,  and  these  are  not  always  clear 
or  self-consistent.  Moreover,  it  does  not  provide 
for  all  cases  of  conscience.  The  traditions  must  be 
consulted  by  the  man  who  wishes  to  please  God ;  and 
the  traditions  form  an  extensive  literature.  But  Ave 
are  not  yet  at  the  end.  Cases  in  real  life  still  force 
upon  the  believer  questions  that  cannot  be  answered 
by  direct  declaration  of  either  Koran  or  tradition. 
But  it  will  not  do  to  remain  in  doubt.  Of  two 
possible  courses  of  action,  one  must  be  pleasing  to 
God  and  the  other  not.  The  development  of  casuistry 
is  the  result.  In  fact  the  religious  science  of  Islam  is 
largely  casuistry.  The  learned  have  the  issues  of  life 
in  their  hands,  and  the  result  has  been  to  foster  the 
pride  which  in  old  times  led  the  Scribes  to  say : 
"this  people  which  knoweth  not  the  Law  is  ac- 
cursed." 

In  this  respect,  Islam  has  failed  to  rise  to  the  New 
Testament  view.  As  we  have  seen,  its  ethical  ideal 
frequently   shows   Biblical  influence.     In   the  point 


THE  SERVICE  OF  OOD  265 

now  under  consideration  it  has  adopted  the  one-sided 
legalism  which  characterized  Pharisaism.  The  Scribes 
who  sat  in  Moses'  seat  have  their  counterpart  in  the 
Scribes  who  still  sit  in  the  seat  of  Mohammed.  The 
conscience  of  the  Moslem  world  is  still  in  the  hands 
of  these  scholastics,  whose  ideal  is  the  ideal  of  thir- 
teen centuries  ago. 

And  if,  in  this  respect,  Mohammedanism  must  be 
classed  with  Talmudic  Judaism,  the  same  must  be  said 
of  the  character  of  its  moralit}^  The  works  pleasing 
to  God  are  largely  works  of  the  law — that  is,  they  are 
ceremonial  and  external.  If  even  in  Christianity, 
which  professes  to  free  men  from  the  law,  men  will 
take  refuge  in  formalism,  how  much  more  must  this 
be  true  in  Islam  !  In  fact,  the  righteousness  of  the 
followers  of  Mohammed  consists  in  what  the  Apostle 
calls  dead  works.  Here  is  where  the  system  most 
needs  regeneration,  and  here  is  where  the  spiritual 
light  of  Protestant  Christianity  should  come  to  its 
help. 


LECTUEE  IX. 

THE  FUTURE  LIFE 

We  liave  already  had  occasion  to  notice  the  prom- 
inence which  the  doctrine  of  the  Judgment  assumed 
in  the  system  of  Mohammed,  and  in  connection  with 
it  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  In  more  than  one 
place  he  intimates  that  the  great  stumbling-block 
which  his  message  put  in  the  way  of  his  compatriots 
was  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection.  The  unbelievers 
are  represented  as  saying  to  their  friends  :  *  "  Shall 
we  bring  you  to  a  man  who  tells  that  after  you  are 
scattered  by  the  decay  of  your  members,  you  will  be- 
come new  creatures?"  Elsewhere  the  unbelievers 
are  characterized  as  those  who  do  not  believe  in  the 
future  life,  while  the  believers  are  frequently  de- 
scribed as  those  who  believe  in  the  future  life — the 
world  to  come  as  we  may  well  translate  the  word.f 
The  stress  of  the  message  is  laid  upon  this  :  "  Let 
those  who  exchange  the  present  life  for  the  life  to 
come,  fight  in  the  cause  of  God."  :j:  The  idea  that 
those  who  lose  the  present  life  in  order  to  gain  the 
other  make  a  good  bargain  is  also  found  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  future  is  in  fact  the  true  good,  the 
present  is  only  a  delusion:  "  Say  to  them  :  The  pres- 

*  Koran,  34^ 

t  Alachira  :  that  which  comes  after  tliis  life,  2^,  6^^  and  often. 

2CG 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  207 

ent  life  is  a  little  thing,  and  the  life  to  come  is  [the 
true]  good  to  the  one  who  fears  God;  "  "  The  present 
life  is  only  play  and  pastime,  but  the  future  home  is 
better  to  those  who  fear  God — do  you  not  under- 
stand?"* 

Belief  in  the  future  life  is,  then,  one  of  the  funda- 
mentals of  Moslem  faith.  How  much  this  article  of 
the  creed  includes  to  orthodox  Mohammedans  can  be 
seen  from  the  following  synopsis  of  the  chapters  de- 
voted to  this  subject  in  a  treatise  on  theology  :  t 

^ '  SectioJi  64:.  To  show  that  the  inquisition  of  Munkar 
and  Nakir,  and  the  punishment  of  the  tomb,  and  its  felicity, 
and  all  that  is  handed  down  concerning  it,  are  true.  .  .  . 
Followers  of  tradition  assert  that  this  inquisition  of  Mun- 
kar and  Nakir  comes  to  every  man  equally,  whether  he  be 
buried,  or  devoured  by  beasts  or  by  birds,  or  even  if  his  dust 
be  scattered  by  the  wind. 

^'  jSectio7i  Q5.  To  show  that  all  the  signs  of  the  Hour, 
concerning  which  the  Lawgiver  has  told  us,  are  true,  and 
that  it  is  necessary  that  all  of  them  come  to  pass  before  the 
coming  of  the  Hour.  These  are  :  the  appearance  of  the 
Mahdi,  then  of  the  Antichrist,  then  of  Jesus ;  next  the 
coming  of  the  Beast,  the  rising  of  the  sun  in  the  west,  the 
ascension  of  the  Koran,  the  opening  of  the  barrier  of  Gog 
and  Magog.  Though  there  remained  for  the  world  but  the 
space  of  one  day,  all  this  would  come  to  pass. 

**  Section  6G.  To  show  the  necessity  of  a  firm  belief  that 
God  will  restore  us  to  life  in  the  form  in  which  he  first 
brought  us  into  it ;  and  the  possible  modes  in  which  the 
bodies  shall  receive  the  spirits  ;  to  explain  the  form  of  the 
Trumpet,  and  the  reviving  of  those  who  are  in  the  tombs. 

"  Section  67.  To  show  that  the  assembly  after  the  resur- 

*  Koran,  4",  G^\  cf.  13'^«. 

t  From  Fliigel,  Scha'rani  und  sein  Werk  iiher  die  Miihainmmedan- 
ische  Glaubenslehre  in  the  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  XX.  (180G),  pp.  22  2t. 


268  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

reetion  is  true,  and  so  of  the  change  of  the  earth  to  another 
earth  and  also  of  the  heavens  [to  other  heavens].  As  to 
the  assembly,  it  is  the  collection  of  all  created  beings  that 
they  may  appear  before  God  and  give  account  before  Him. 
It  extends  to  all  creatures,  both  the  distinguished  and  the 
vulgar.  All  the  pious,  the  prophets,  the  saints,  and  the 
believers  shall  appear  in  the  presence  of  the  Compassionate, 
and  the  evil-doers  of  different  classes  shall  assemble  before 
the  Almighty  and  the  Avenger. 

*'  Section  68.  To  show  that  the  Pool  and  the  Bridge  and 
the  Scales  are  true. 

' '  Section  69.  To  show  that  the  books  kept  by  the  record- 
ing angels  are  true  and  that  they  shall  be  laid  before  God 
in  the  day  of  resurrection  according  to  the  express  tradi- 
tions. But  as  to  the  records  men  have  different  lots  :  one 
shall  hold  his  in  his  right  hand,  and  another  shall  hold  his 
in  his  left,  and  another  shall  hold  his  behind  his  back. 
Those  who  hold  their  books  in  their  right  hands  are  the 
different  classes  of  believers  ;  those  whose  books  are  given 
into  their  left  hands,  these  are  the  hypocrites,  but  not  idol- 
ators  ;  those  who  hold  their  books  behind  their  backs  are 
those  who  received  the  Scripture  but  cast  it  behind  them. 

**  Section  70.  To  show  that  our  prophet  Mohammed  (God 
bless  and  save  him)  will  be  the  first  intercessor  in  the  Day 
of  Resurrection  and  the  first  whose  intercession  will  be  ac- 
cepted and  the  best  of  them,  and  no  one  shall  have  prece- 
dence of  him. 

"  Section  71.  To  show  that  Paradise  and  the  Fire  are 
true,  and  that  they  were  created  before  Adam  (peace  be  on 
him)  as  has  been  already  set  forth  at  large. " 

The  citation,  though  only  from  a  synopsis,  is 
enough  to  show  the  extent  to  which  Mohammedan 
eschatology  has  been  developed.  The  theologians 
have  been  obliged  to  find  room  in  their  system  for 
every  saying  on  this  subject  which  is  attributed  to 
Mohammed  by  tradition,  as  well  as  every  declara- 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  269 

tion  contained  in  the  Koran.  Tlieir  liarmonistic 
efforts  are  evident  enough  in  some  sections  of  this 
treatise,  as  where  those  who  receive  the  book  of  rec- 
ord are  divided  into  three  classes.  This  division  is 
based  on  different  texts  of  the  Koran,  in  each  of 
which  only  two  classes  of  men  are  specified.  Thus, 
we  find  in  several  instances  that  the  good  are  called 
men  of  the  right  and  the  bad  men  of  the  left.  These 
phrases  are  apparently  borrowed  from  the  Gospel 
account  of  the  Judgment,  in  which  the  sheep  are 
placed  on  the  right  hand  and  the  goats  on  the  left. 
Influenced  by  this  phraseology  we  have  in  these  pas- 
sages the  two  classes  designated  as  those  who  receive 
their  book  (or  account)  in  their  right  hand  or  in  their 
left  hand  as  the  case  may  be.*  In  another  passage 
the  one  receives  his  book  in  his  right  hand  and  the 
other  receives  it  behind  his  bach.-f  It  is  clear  that 
the  Prophet  meant  by  this  various  imagery  to  de- 
scribe two  classes  and  only  two.  But  the  literalism 
of  the  theologians  compels  them  to  adopt  a  scheme 
which  will  allow  all  the  texts  to  be  literally  true — 
hence  the  three  classes  in  our  author's  presentation. 

So  extended  and  well-ordered  a  system  as  is  here 
presented  was  not  in  the  mind  of  Mohammed.  It  is 
not  unlikely,  however,  that  he  was  hospitable  to  in- 
timations concerning  the  life  beyond  the  grave  which 
came  to  him  from  various  quarters.  The  curious  as- 
sertion attributed  to  him  by  tradition  to  the  effect 
that  the  souls  of  the  maiiyrs  abide  in  the  crops  of 
green  birds  which  inhabit  Paradise,  is  almost  cer- 
tainly a  survival  from  Arabic  heathenism,  in  which 
*  Koran,  69'9--^  \SV-'\ 


270  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

the  departed  soul  was  supposed  to  take  the  form  of  a 
bird.*  On  the  same  evideuce  (that  of  tradition)  we 
are  warranted  in  asserting  that  he  took  the  idea  of 
the  punishments  of  the  grave  from  the  Jews  at  Me- 
dina, f 

The  hypothesis  of  a  future  life  seems  to  be  a  ne- 
cessity to  a  faith  which  will  maintain  its  hold  on  the 
justice  of  God.  The  inequalities  of  this  life  are  so 
marked,  the  lot  of  man  is  here  so  glaringly  appor- 
tioned without  reference  to  his  deserts,  that  we  must 
look  for  another  world  in  which  the  injustices  may 
be  remedied.  The  perplexity  of  the  Old  Testament 
writers  in  their  attempt  to  discover  God's  justice  in 
the  assignment  of  prosperity  and  calamity  in  this 
world,  is  sufficiently  evident  from  the  Book  of  Job. 
That  they  were  able  to  keep  their  faith  in  God  in 
spite  of  the  darkness  which  (to  the  most  of  them) 
hung  over  the  future,  is  evidence  of  the  intensity  of 
the  faith  itself.  Mohammed  never  had  to  go  through 
their  struggle.  But  he  felt  the  force  of  the  moral  ar- 
gument for  the  future  life,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
following :  %  "  Or  do  those  who  do  evil  think  that 
We  will  treat  them  like  those  who  believe  and  do 
good,  making  their  life  and  their  death  the  same? 
Evil  is  the  opinion  they  have  formed.  God  has  made 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  in  accordance  with  justice, 
and  in  order  that  every  soul  may  be  recompensed  for 
wdiat  it  has  done,  and  they  shall  not  be  wronged." 
The  thought  is  plain ;  God  has  a  purpose   in   His 

*Kremer,  Herrscliende  Fcleen^  p.  166. 
■f  Bochari^  II.,  p.  93,  also  p.  24  f. 
J  Koran,  45-"  f. 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  271 

dealiDgs  with  men.  This  purpose  is  the  manifesta- 
tion of  His  justice.  The  purpose  will  be  accomplished 
only  when  all  receive  their  recompense.  It  follows 
from  the  notorious  inequalities  of  this  life  that  the 
recompense  of  the  other  life  is  the  more  certain.  It 
is  perhaps  with  some  such  thought  in  mind  that 
Mohammed  said  :  '^  "  the  poor  Kefugees  will  reach 
heaven  before  the  rich  by  forty  years  at  the  resur- 
rection." 

It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  Mohammed 
worked  out  the  logic  of  this  view.  His  whole  idea 
came  ready  formulated  from  Christianity.  The  point 
at  which  it  met  his  religious  needs  was  this — the 
Judgment  solves  the  difficulties  which  force  them- 
selves upon  us  as  we  contemplate  the  divine  govern- 
ment of  the  world.  The  Judgment,  then,  is  the  point 
of  departure  for  the  whole  eschatology  of  the  Koran. 
It  apj)ears  prominently  in  the  earliest  Siu'as.  In  the 
Fatiha,  God  is  King  of  the  Day  of  Judgment.  The 
phrase  Day  of  Judgment  occurs  elsewhere  in  the  early 
period,  and  is  doubtless  borrowed  from  a  Christian 
source. t  It  reminds  us  of  New  Testament  usage  also, 
that  the  Hour  is  made  the  name  of  the  Judgment,  t 

The  Koran  conception  of  the  Judgment  is  the  dra- 
matic one  known  to  us  by  the  Gospel  description. § 
The  world  shall  suddenly  be  visited  by  great  por- 

♦  Mishcat^  II.,  p.  507. 

f  Koran,  51",  56^'.  The  word  din  here  used  for  judgment  seems 
not  to  have  had  that  sense  in  Arabic,  but  to  have  been  borrowed 
from  Hebrew  or  Aramaic. 

X  6"'  -10,  12^"%  22'^^  etc.     Cf.  that  day  and  hour,  Matt.  34^6. 

§Matt.  24-5-%  25■'■*^ 


272  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tents ;  the  Judge  will  sit  on  His  throne ;  all  nations 
shall  be  gathered  before  Him ;  the  good  shall  be 
placed  on  His  right  hand  and  be  welcomed  to  happi- 
ness ;  the  evil  shall  be  placed  on  the  left  hand  and  be 
consigned  to  punishment.  The  picture  recurs  in  all 
its  features  in  the  Koran,  except  that  the  Judge  is 
God,  and  not  the  Son  of  Man.  In  the  Gospel,  the 
portents  are  the  darkening  of  the  sun  and  moon,  the 
falling  of  the  stars  from  heaven,  and  the  sending  out 
of  the  angels  with  the  trumpet.  To  this  should  be 
added  earthquakes,  and  the  various  convulsions  of 
nature  which  the  Old  Testament  prophets  associate 
with  the  Day  of  Yahweh.     Compare  the  Koran : 

**  When  the  sun  shall  be  darkened, 
And  when  the  stars  shall  be  scattered, 
When  the  mountains  shall  be  removed, 
And  when  the  camels  shall  be  uncared  for. 
When  the  beasts  shall  be  collected, 
And  when  the  seas  shall  be  dried  up. 
When  the  souls  shall  be  united, 
And  the  girl  buried  alive  shall  be  asked 
For  what  crime  she  was  slain  ; 
When  the  books  shall  be  opened, 
And  the  heavens  shall  be  folded  together, 
When  the  fire  shall  burn  fiercely, 
And  Paradise  shall  be  brought  into  view — 
Then  each  soul  shall  know  whp.t  it  lias  wrought. ' '  * 

The  Biblical  resemblances  of  the  passage  are  ob- 
vious, and  many  other  passages  of  similar  import 
might  be  cited.  Quite  in  accord  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment, is  the  division  of  those  who  are  judged  into 

*  Koran,  81'"**.     The  meaning  is  not  always  certain. 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  273 

men  of  the  right  hand  and  men  of  the  left  hand.  We 
can  scarcely  doubt  that  this  goes  back  to  the  Gospel 
picture.  As  already  noted,  these  two  divisions  com- 
prise all  mankind.  Those  who  believe  are  the  men 
of  the  right  and  those  who  disbelieve  are  the  men  of 
the  left."^  In  one  passage  there  are  said  to  be  three 
divisions.  But  this  is  for  the  purpose  of  throwing 
the  prophets  into  relief,  they  being  allowed  to  go  first 
to  their  reward.  The  fundamental  distinction  is  be- 
tween the  good  and  the  bad.  Possibly  under  Persian 
influence,  room  was  found  later  for  an  intermediate 
class.  That  the  judgment  takes  place  by  the  help  of 
books  of  record  we  have  noticed  in  an  earlier  lect- 
ure, as  also  that  this  is  based  on  Jewish  or  Christian 
ideas.  The  use  of  the  Balance  to  determine  the  merit 
of  each  one  is  affirmed  in  some  passages,f  and  this 
very  natural  figure  has  given  the  theologians  trouble, 
because,  in  their  literalism,  they  did  not  see  how 
actions  could  be  weighed. 

In  order  to  the  complete  vindication  of  divine 
justice,  all  responsible  beings  must  be  judged.  Hence 
the  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  The  original  form  of  the  doctrine  seems  to 
have  been  different.  The  Old  Testament  believer 
was  much  exercised  that  the  final  triumph  of  Israel 
should  take  place  without  the  presence  of  those  who 
had  suffered  most  for  the  good  cause.  In  the  Book  of 
Daniel,  the  faith  that  Israel  shall  triumph  over  the 
Gentiles  is  accompanied  by  the  faith  that  many  of 
those  who  have  died  without  the  sight  shall  be  raised 
to  participate  in  the  glory  for  which  they  have  longed. 

*  Koran,  OO'^'",  cf.  74",  56^  ^  t  23"'«  f.  2V\ 

18 


274  TUE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

In  mediseYal  Judaism,  the  emphasis  of  the  resurrec- 
tion is  laid  upon  this  thought.  Saadia,  for  example, 
goes  into  a  calculation  of  the  space  which  would  be  oc- 
cupied by  Israel  when  all  its  dead  should  be  raised."^ 
The  earthly  kingdom  of  the  Messiah  thus  precedes 
the  final  apportionment  of  rewards  and  punishments. 
For  the  doctrine  in  this  form,  Mohammed  had  no 
taste,  as  is  evident  from  his  connecting  the  resurrec- 
tion and  the  Judgment  closely  together.  In  his  earlier 
preaching  (and  perhaps  to  the  close  of  his  life)  he 
thought  the  Judgment  to  be  near  at  hand.  He  re- 
garded it  as  a  Day  of  Yahweh  which  should  come 
suddenly  upon  the  nations.  His  denunciation  of 
calamity  upon  Mecca  was  doubtless  based  upon  a  bona 
fide  expectation  of  the  early  appearance  of  God  in 
Judgment.  In  this  he  reminds  us  of  the  expectation, 
so  common  in  New  Testament  times,  that  the  Lord 
would  soon  return  for  judgment.  This  expectation 
is  not  confined  to  New  Testament  times.  The  most  re- 
ligious (or  the  most  emotional)  minds  have  frequently 
felt  the  course  of  the  world  to  be  so  bad,  that  there 
must  be  an  immediate  intervention  of  divine  power. 
Thus  the  Fifth  Monarchy  expectation  becomes  acute 
at  times  when  reverses  overtake  the  Church.  For 
Mohammed  we  may  notice  : 

* '  Verily  the  chastisement  of  thy  Lord  is  at  hand, 
None  can  turn  it  away. 

A  day  when  the  heavens  shall  be  in  commotion, 
And  the  mountains  shall  remove! 

Woe,  on  that  day,  to  those  who  accuse  [the  revelation] 
of  falsehood ! 

*  Emunot  we-Deoi^  oder  Glaubenslehre  und  PhilosopMe  von  Saad- 
ja  Fajjumi,  iibersetzt  von  Fiirst  (Leipzig,  1845),  p.  408. 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  275 

These  are  they  who  amused  themselves  with  vanity. 
The  day  on  which  they  are  roughly  thrust  into  the  fire 

of  Gehenna  [they  shall  be  told], 
This  is  the  fii'e  whose  existence  you  denied . "  * 

The  passage  seems  to  assert  categorically  both  that 
the  day  of  punishment  is  near,  and  that  there  is  no 
interval  between  its  appearance  and  the  condemna- 
tion of  the  unbelievers.  Other  assertions  that  the 
Day  is  near  can  easily  be  found. f  Some  of  them  are 
guarded  in  their  language.  Even  these  remind  us  of 
the  New  Testament,  which  is  careful  to  assure  us  that 
the  exact  time  is  known  to  God  alone.  Koran  and 
New  Testament  agree  also  in  affirming  the  suddenness 
with  which  the  Hour  shall  announce  itself:  "To 
God  belong  the  secrets  of  heaven  and  earth.  The 
matter  of  the  Hour  is  like  a  glance  of  the  eye,  or  even 
nearer;"  "They  shall  discern  nothing  but  a  single 
cry ;  it  shall  come  upon  them  while  they  are  disput- 
ing, and  they  shall  not  be  able  to  make  their  testa- 
ments or  return  to  their  families.  A  blast  shall  be 
blown  and  men  shall  hasten  from  the  tombs  to  their 
Lord.  They  shall  say  :  Woe  to  us !  Who  has  brought 
us  from  our  resting  place  ?  This  is  what  the  Com- 
passionate threatened,  and  the  messengers  were  truth- 
ful. There  shall  come  a  single  cry  and  all  [created 
things]  shall  appear  before  Us.  On  that  day  no  soul 
shall  be  wronged  at  all,  nor  shall  they  be  recom- 
pensed except  for  w^hat  they  have  done."  %  Elsewhere 
also  the  single  blast  of  the  trumpet  is  followed  at  ouco 
by  the  resurrection.§     In  one  passage,  however,  this 

*  Koran,  52^-h.  tE.g.,  75'^  77%  27^%  33''\ 

X  16'%  3G<*.s«.  §  37",  27  %  37'^ 


276  TUB  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

is  made  two  blasts:  "The  trumpet  sliall  be  blown 
and  ail  that  are  in  heaven  and  earth  shall  die,  ex- 
cept whom  God  will.  Then  it  shall  be  blown  again 
and  they  shall  rise  and  see.  And  the  earth  shall 
shine  with  the  light  of  its  Lord,  and  the  book 
shall  be  placed,  and  the  prophets  and  the  witnesses 
shall  be  brought  and  men  shall  be  judged — none  shall 
be  wronged.* 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  combine  in  a  sincrle 
picture  all  the  features  of  Mohammed's  description. 
Besides  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  we  have  the  call  of 
an  angel :  "  On  the  day  when  one  shall  call  to  some- 
thing difficult,  with  looks  cast  down  they  shall  come 
forth  from  the  graves  like  the  locusts  in  clouds."  f 
In  their  terror  they  shall  flee  their  nearest  friends ; 
the  nurse  shall  forget  her  charge ;  the  pregnant 
woman  shall  miscarry ;  men  shall  be  drunken  with 
terror.  J  All  voices  are  put  to  silence,  and  the  only 
sound  heard  is  the  tramp  of  the  millions  moving  to 
their  doom.§  Angels  and  men  are  ranged  in  ranks. 
The  false  gods  are  judged  along  with  their  wor- 
shippers. Each  tries  to  excuse  himself  and  to 
throw  the  blame  upon  others.  Gehenna  is  brought 
near — a  flaming  monster  with  fiery  maw  gaping  for 
prey.  II 

Even  the  animals  will  be  raised  and  brought  into 
judgment  Tf — though  this  is  affirmed  in  but  one  pas- 
sage. Although  the  books  of  record  are  brought,  they 

*  Koran,  39««  ^ .  1 54^  f. 

JSO^'^,  22^  So  in  the  Day  of  Yahweh  men  shall  be  "drunken 
but  not  with  wine." 

§  201".  II  89-^3  f^  ^  Qi\ 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  277 

are,  properly  speaking,  not  necessary.  Men  sliall 
be  recognized  by  their  marks;  they  shall  be  com- 
pelled to  testify  against  themselves ;  their  members 
will  bear  witness  against  them  :  "  Their  hearing  and 
their  eyes  and  their  skins  shall  testify  concerning 
what  they  were  accustomed  to  do ;  they  will  say  to 
their  skins :  "  Why  do  you  testify  against  us  ?  They 
will  reply:  God  who  causes  everything  to  speak, 
causes  us  to  speak ;  it  is  He  who  created  you  at  first, 
and  to  Him  you  return  ;  you  cannot  so  conceal  your- 
selves that  your  ears  and  eyes  and  skins  will  not 
witness — but  you  thought  that  God  would  not  know 
what  you  were  doing."  ^  This  feature  apj)ears  also 
in  Rabbinical  sources.  The  thought  that,  as  soul 
and  body  are  both  concerned  in  the  sins  of  this  life, 
both  must  be  punished  in  the  other  world,  goes  back 
to  the  Persian  rehgion.  t 

The  multitude  of  details  must  not  cause  us  to  lose 
sight  of  the  main  point.  This  is,  that  the  justice  of 
God  will  be  fully  vindicated  by  a  universal  Judgment 
for  which  the  dead  will  be  raised.  In  this  form  the 
idea  is  undoubtedly  Christian.  This  idea  forms  a  mo- 
tive for  faith  and  good  works.  Believers  are  to  be 
rewarded,  unbelievers  will  be  punished.  This  motive 
is  urged  by  all  the  religions  which  have  a  distinct 
conception  of  a  future  life.     As  to  historical  Chris- 

♦  Koran,  41i9-2i,  cf.  24^^  36«5  and  Geiger,  /.  c,  p.  74. 

fKohut  in  Z.  D.  M.  G.,  XXI.  (18G7),  p.  565  f.  The  argument 
that  the  resurrection  of  men  is  no  more  difficult  to  God  than  their 
creation,  is  also  given  by  Zoroaster,  adopted  by  the  Jews  and  found 
in  the  Koran — Kolmt,  /.  c,  p.  578  f. ;  Saadia,  Emiinot  (Fvivsi)^  p.  381. 
The  same  line  of  argument  is  found  in  the  Church  Fathers,  Har- 
nack,  Dogmengeschichte^  II.,  p.  G5. 


278  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

tianity  there  can  be  no  doubt  on  this  point,  and  if  we 
compare  Mohammed's  descriptions  of  Paradise  and 
Gehenna  with  those  found  in  Christian  sources  we 
shall  not  be  in  doubt  as  to  his  dependence  upon 
them.  These  descriptions  are  probably  the  best 
known  portions  of  the  Koran,  so  that  their  treatment 
here  may  be  brief. 

Paradise  is  the  Garden^  or  the  Garden  of  Eden,  or 
with  translation  of  the  word  Eden,  the  Garden  of 
Pleasure.  This  abode  of  the  blessed  is  watered  by 
perennial  streams;  the  inhabitants  repose  at  their 
ease  in  shady  bowers ;  they  eat  of  the  most  delicious 
fruits  ;  cups  of  a  delicious  beverage  but  which  does 
not  intoxicate,  are  served  to  them  as  often  as  they 
desire;  they  are  clothed  magnificently  and  adorned 
with  jewels. 

To  these  delights  are  added  the  damsels  of  Para- 
dise, virgins  whose  beauty  passes  description.  The 
delights  are  not  all  sensuous.  The  throne  of  God 
is  in  the  midst  of  the  Garden,  and  the  blessed  be- 
hold the  worship  of  the  angels  and  hear  the  praises 
which  they  sing.*  No  vain  discourse  will  be  uttered, 
but  the  universal  salutation  will  be :  Peace !  They 
shall  receive  visits  of  congratulation  from  the  angels. 
Better  than  all,  is  the  consciousness  of  the  favor  of 
God.f  That  the  saved  shall  behold  the  face  of  God 
seems  to  be  nowhere  asserted  in  the  Koran,  though 
tradition  affirms   it   very   strongly.      It   is  perhaps 

♦  Koran,  39".  It  is  unnecessary  to  give  references  for  the  other 
particulars. 

t  Such  seems  to  be  the  meaning  of  9'^. 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  279 

implied  in  the  Koran  phrase :  "  Those  who  endure 
through  desire  ofthefcLce  of  their  Lord.''* 

On  the  whole  this  must  be  admitted  to  be  a  sensu- 
ous paradise.  Mohammed  showed  his  own  weakness 
in  introducing  the  Huris  into  the  picture.  For  this  he 
had  no  precedent  in  the  Bible.  But  for  the  rest  of 
his  description  he  could  plead  Jewish  and  Christian 
I)recedent.  A  recent  author  calls  attention  to  the  de- 
scription of  Eden  in  the  hymns  of  Ephraem  Syrus. 
This  Father  speaks  of  its  fragrant  fountains,  its  flow- 
ers and  crowns ;  the  blessed  are  served  by  angels  who 
bring  them  wine  from  the  vine  of  Paradise. f  John  of 
Damascus  describes  Paradise  in  similar  terms. :[  That 
the  same  features  are  found  in  Rabbinical  writings  is 
well  known.§  It  is  aside  from  our  present  pui-pose 
to  notice  the  resemblances  further  than  to  show  that 
Mohammed  adopted  substantially  the  view  of  his 
predecessors.  This  went  so  far  as  to  assert  seven 
heavens,  and  to  affirm  that  the  good  are  rewarded  in 
different  degrees,  both  which  propositions  may  be 
found  in  Jewish  and  Christian  authorities.  II 

It  need  scarcely  be  added   that   the  woes  of  the 

*  Koran,  13--.  On  seeing  the  face  of  God  cf.  Pocock,  Noice  Mis- 
cellanecB^  in  his  Works,  I.  (1740),  p.  236;  Mishcat^  II.,  620. 

fGrimme,  Mohammed^  II.,  p.  161. 

XHnTuack^Dogmengeschuhie^  II.,  p.  154. 

§  Weber,  Altsynagogale  Theologie.,  p.  331. 

II  On  the  seven  heavens  2".  The  idea  is  Persian,  cf.  Z.  D.  M.  G., 
XXI.,  p.  562,  and  Talraudic,  ibid.^  p.  567.  That  the  blessed  have 
different  degrees  of  reward  is  less  distinctly  asserted  in  tlie  Koran 
though  abundantly  developed  in  Tradition,  as  Bochari,  III.,  p.  185. 
The  same  idea  is  found  in  Christianity  (Ilarnack,  /.  c,  II.,  p.  CG)^ 
and  in  Judaism  (Weber,  p.  332). 


280  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

damned  are  also  developed  along  the  lines  of  Jew- 
ish and  Christian  belief.  The  fundamental  idea  is 
that  Gehenna  is  a  place  of  fire.  The  name  is  bor- 
rowed with  the  idea.*  The  description  is  frequently 
given.  Sometimes  Gehenna  is  almost  an  animate 
monster.  Its  voracity  is  such  that  after  it  has  re- 
ceived all  its  portion  of  men  and  demons  and  is 
asked  whether  it  is  satisfied,  it  will  reply :  Is  there 
anything  more?  We  are  reminded  of  the  Biblical 
proverb  which  puts  Sheol  as  one  of  the  things  insati- 
able. The  unhappy  souls  are  dragged  to  that  abode 
loaded  with  chains.  As  they  enter  they  are  greeted 
with  curses  and  reproaches,  Avhich  they  return  upon 
the  heads  of  those  who  have  preceded  them.  The  fire 
burns  with  an  intensity  sufiicient  to  consume  stones, 
and  it  completely  envelops  its  victims.  It  consumes 
their  members,  which  grow  again  to  be  a  fresh  source 
of  torture.  They  are  given  to  eat  of  an  infernal  tree 
called  Zakkum,  "whose  fruit  is  like  the  heads  of 
devils,"  t  and  when  eaten  "  boils  within  them  like 
molten  metal."  They  receive  to  drink  boiling  water, 
or  a  yet  more  disgusting  liquid.  Their  prayer  for  re- 
lief is  in  vain.  Though  continually  enduring  the 
pangs  of  death,  death  never  comes  to  their  relief.  Of 
special  punishments  we  hear  only  that  the  misers  who 
have  heaped  up  gold  and  silver  will  be  branded  with 
red  hot  coins  on  forehead  and  side  and  back.  J  On  the 

*  Gehannam^  approaching  the  Hebrew  more  nearly  than  the  Chris- 
tian Syriac. 

t  Koran,  ^V^  S  of.  44^^  f^ 

X  9''^  The  Haditli  adds  that  those  who  have  refused  the  poor-tax 
of  cattle  shall  be  trampled  by  the  cattle,  Dochari^  II.,  p.  101. 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  281 

wliole,  the  description  of  these  torments  falls  short  of 
the  ingenuity  of  Christian  and  Eabbinic  writers.* 

What  we  have  now  considered  makes  up  the  main 
view  of  the  Koran.     So  long  as  the  expectation  of  an 
early  coming  of  the  Judgment  could  be  entertained,  it 
was  sufficient.      But  the  Judgment  delayed.      Many 
of  the  believers  were  taken  away  from  earth,  and 
many  of   the   enemies  of  the  Prophet  were  put  to 
death.     The  question  must  arise— where  are  these 
souls  for  the  present  time?     Do  they  simply  sleep 
until  the  resui'rection  ?     The  natural  answer  is  that 
they  sleep  with  the  body,  and  this  answer  seems  to 
be  implied  in  the  assertion  that  those  who  are  raised 
will  think  that  they  have  rested  only  a  brief  time 
in  the  tomb.     In  one  instance  we  have  the  account 
of  a  man  who  was  sceptical  about  the  resurrection, 
whereupon  God  caused  him  to  die,  and  after  a  hun- 
dred years  revived  him.     On  being  asked  how  long 
he  had  remained  in  that  state,  he  replied :  a  day  or 
liart  of  a  dmj.-\    So  the  scoffers,  when  they  are  raised 
at  the  last  day,  shall  think  that  they  have  been  in  the 
gi-ave  only  an  hour,  or  only  a  little  time.it     The  only 
rational  hypothesis  to  account  for  this  state  of  mind, 
is  that  the  souls  have  passed  the  time  in  sleep ;  and 
this  we  suppose  to  have  been  Mohammed's  original 
Intention.     But  the  impatience  of   his  followers  for 
paradise,  and  his  own  impatience  for  the  punishment 

*  Cf.  the  Acts  of  Thomas  (Walker's  Apocryphal  Gospels),  p.  419 
f. ;  Anienicene  Fathers,  VIII.,  p.  547;  Eisenmengcr,  Entdecktes  Jw 
denthum,  II.,  p.  341. 

t  Koran,  2^"'. 

X  4G'^5^  17^',  ef.  also,  20>» ',  SO^'* '. 


282  TUB  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

of  liis  enemies,  could  not  rest  in  the  simple  hypothe- 
sis of  sleeping  souls.  Jewish  and  Christian  tradition 
came  to  his  help.  These,  although  they  asserted  a 
Judgment,  found  room  for  a  series  of  scenes  to  pre- 
cede the  final  consummation.  For  the  individual  soul, 
moreover,  they  had  provided  an  extended  experience 
between  death  and  the  resurrection.  As  these  theories 
became  known  to  Mohammed,  he  seems  to  have 
adopted  them  more  or  less  completely,  but  without 
digesting  them  into  a  self-consistent  scheme.  As 
further  developed  by  tradition  they  have  all  found 
place  in  the  Moslem  eschatology,  which  thus  becomes 
the  complicated  thing  which  we  have  already  contem- 
plated in  the  extract  from  Sharani.  These  additional 
details  deserve  some  attention.  They  are  concerned 
either  wdth  the  experiences  of  the  individual  soul  or 
"with  the  course  of  the  world's  history,  and  we  may 
conveniently  arrange  them  under  these  two  heads. 

Death  is  the  separation  of  soul  and  body.  It  is 
natural  to  suppose  that  it  is  effected  by  the  angels. 
Such  was  the  theory  of  Judaism,  going  back  to  Par- 
seeism,*  and  adopted  in  popular  Christianity.f  So 
we  find  in  the  Koran  :  "  If  only  thou  couldst  see  when 
the  evil-doers  are  in  the  pangs  of  death,  while  the 
angels  stretch  forth  their  hands  [saying]  :  Give  forth 
your  souls!   To-day  you  shall  be  recompensed  by 

*  In  Parseeism  the  man's  good  deeds  appear  to  him  in  the  form  of 
a  beautiful  maiden  at  his  death.  Kohut  (Z.  D.  M,  G.,  XXI.,  p.  564) 
cites  also  a  passage  in  wliich  the  angels  accompany  the  soul.  For 
Judaism,  Weber,  p.  324,  Saadia  (Fiirst's  Translation),  p.  364. 

fThe  Revelation  of  Paul  in  Walker's  translation  (Apocryphal 
Gospels),  p.  480;  Anienicene  Fathers^  VIII.,  p.  576;  Budge,  Book 
of  the  Bee^  p.  131. 


TUE  FUTURE  LIFE  28£> 

severe  pnnislimcnt  for  wLat  you  have  falsely  spoken 
concerning  God,"  ''^  and  more  vividly  :  "  If  only  tliou 
couldst  see  when  the  unbelievers  die,  how  the  angels 
strike  their  faces  and  backs  [saying]  :  Taste  the  pun- 
ishment of  the  fire  !  This  is  for  what  your  hands  have 
laid  up  in  store."  According  to  tradition,  an  inquisi- 
tion is  held  in  the  grave  as  to  whether  the  deceased 
is  a  sincere  behever.  If  he  turns  out  to  be  such,  his 
grave  is  expanded  for  him  and  he  is  given  a  view 
of  Paradise.  If  the  reverse  be  the  case,  the  body  is 
beaten  and  the  grave  is  contracted  so  as  to  press  upon 
the  body.  These  are  the  pains  of  the  grave  adopted 
from  Judaism.f  The  soul  remains  joined  to  the  body 
therefore,  and  is  affected  by  its  experiences. 

Properly  speaking,  then,  there  are  three  theories 
discoverable  on  this  point.  According  to  one,  the 
soul  sleeps  between  death  and  the  resurrection.  This 
is  implied  in  the  passages  already  cited,  in  which  the 
raised  think  they  have  been  but  an  hour  or  a  day  in 
the  tomb.  The  second  is  developed  by  tradition  in 
the  form  just  noted — that  the  soul  is  present  with  the 
body  receiving  a  foretaste  of  its  final  state.  And, 
thirdly,  there  are  traces  of  a  theory  that  the  souls 
enter  at  once  upon  the  enjoyment  of  heaven  or  the 
suffering  of  hell.  The  only  trace  of  this  in  the  Koran 
is  in  an  allusion  to  Pharaoh  and  his  people,  who  are 
said  to  be  brought  to  the  fire  morning  and  evening, 

*  Koran,  6^^,  S^'^  ^  The  reader  who  is  interested  in  the  theological 
development  of  these  passages  may  consult  Gautier,  La  Perle  Frc- 
cieuse  de  Ghazdli  (1877),  pp.  9,  15,  IG. 

t  Cf.  Mishcat,  I.,  pp.  38-43;  Bochari,  II.,  pp.  84,  92  f . ;  Weber, 
/.  c,  p.  325;  Saadia,  p.  3G8. 


284  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

*'  and  when  the  Hour  shall  dawn  it  shall  be  said : 
Take  the  people  of  Pharaoh  to  the  severest  punish- 
ment !  "  *  In  the  traditions,  however,  we  have  fre- 
quent assertions  that  the  souls  of  those  who  die  in 
the  holy  war  go  at  once  to  Paradise.  It  is  not  for 
us  to  endeavor  to  reconcile  these  three  propositions. 
But  it  is  fair  to  point  out  that  a  similar  confusion  pre- 
vails in  the  Christian  treatment  of  the  life  which  comes 
immediately  after  death  and  before  the  resurrection. 

As  remarked  above,  the  Christian  theory  of  the 
last  things  embraces  more  than  the  final  Judgment. 
When  it  became  evident  that  the  great  consummation 
was  not  so  imminent  as  Mohammed  had  supposed, 
these  additional  events  began  to  assert  themselves, 
even  to  Mohammed  himself.  He  was  willing  at  least 
to  allow  room  for  the  signs  of  the  Hour,  Such  signs 
he  described  in  the  convulsions  of  nature  which  are 
so  frequently  mentioned  in  connection  Avitli  the  Judg- 
ment. But  later  he  extended  the  list.  One  of  the 
most  prominent  of  the  additional  signs  was  the  ap- 
peai^ance  of  Gog  and  Magog :  "  A  curse  shall  rest  on 
the  city  we  have  destroj^ed.  They  shall  not  revive 
until  Gog  and  Magog  shall  have  free  course  and  they 
shall  come  down  in  crowds  from  every  height."  f 
Tlie  explanation  is  given  in  another  Sura  which  re- 
lates at  length  the  story  of  Alexander  the  Great 
(Dhu-1-Karnain).  Among  other  things,  this  King  is 
said  to  have  made  a  wall  of  iron  cemented  with 
molten  brass. :J:     The  object  of  the  wall  was  to  keep 

*  Koran,  40". 

t  2P^  ^     I  have  substituted  the  familiar  Gog  and  Magog  for  the 
Arabic  form  Yajuj  o,nd  Majvj. 

J  The  story  fills  IS''^-"'*,  ami  is  derived  from  a  Christian  source. 


TEE  FUTURE  LIFE  285 

out  tlie  ferocious  Tartar  tribes  here  called  Gog  and 
Magog.  It  is  evident  at  a  glance  that  we  have  here 
an  apocalyptic  sign  which  goes  back  to  Ezekiel  and 
which  reappears  in  the  New  Testament  Eevelation.^ 
Beyond  the  assertion  that  these  nations  shall  come 
in  crowds  as  a  sign  of  the  Day,  Mohammed  makes 
no  use  of  them  ;  and  in  his  presentation  there  seems 
to  be  no  room  for  the  extended  campaign  of  Gog 
which  is  imphed  in  EzekieFs  account. 

Another  sign  of  which  tradition  makes  much  is 
the   Beast,   mentioned   once   in  the   Koran:    "And 
when  the  decree  is  pronounced  upon  them.  We  will 
bring  from  the  earth  a  beast  which  shall  say  to  them 
that  mankind  has  not  kept  firm  hold  of  our  revela- 
tion." f     Here   is   evidently   a   reminiscence   of  the 
Beast  of  the  New  Testament  Eevelation.     But  Mo- 
hammed only  alludes  to  it  in  connection  with  the 
Hour,  as  one  of  its  signs.     The  connection  is  only 
external.     The  same  may  be   said   of  the   Second 
Coming  of  Jesus,  which  is  once  said  to  be  a  sign  of 
the  approach   of  the  Hour.     The  coming   of   Anti- 
christ is  certified  by  tradition  only,  as  it  would  seem. 
The  expected  Malidi  who  is  also  predicted  in  tradi- 
tion, is  another  product  of  the  perennial  Messianic 
hope  of  the  Eastern  world.t     Tradition  goes  counter 
to  the  tenor  of  the  Koran  when  it  makes  Jesus  the 

*  Ezek  38  and  39  ;  Rev.  20^-1°.  On  the  influence  which  the  pre- 
diction has  had  in  Christian  literature,  cf.  Bousset,  Der  Antichrist 
(1895)  pp.  29,  33  f.    For  Judaism,  Weber,  /.  c,  p.  369  f. 

t  Koran,  278* ;  Rev.  13.  ^    ^        ^ 

X  An  extended  discussion  of  these  matters  is  given  by  Pocock, 
NotcB  MiscellanecB,  in  his  Works  (1740)  I.,  p.  213  ff. ;  cf.  also  Ruling, 
Eschaiologie  des  Islam  (1895). 


286  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Judge  at  the  Day  of  Kesurrection.  The  Bridge  on 
which  those  who  are  judged  will  attempt  to  pass  to 
heaven,  only  the  believers  succeeding,  has  also  a 
large  place  in  tradition,  having  been  borrowed  from 
Persian  sources.  These  embellishments  show  how 
many  incongruous  elements  may  be  swallowed,  and 
in  a  sense  assimilated,  by  tradition. 

One  point  remains  to  be  noticed.  The  eternity  of 
reward  and  punishment  seems  distinctly  affirmed  in 
the  Koran.  In  fact  a  distinct  polemic  is  found 
against  the  Jews  who  had  the  contrary  theory: 
*'  They  say :  The  fire  shall  affect  us  only  a  limited 
number  of  days.  Say  to  them :  Have  you  received 
an  engagement  from  God  such  that  He  will  not 
change,  or  do  you  say  concerning  God  what  you  do 
not  know  ?  Nay !  Whoever  has  deserved  evil,  and 
whose  sin  has  encompassed  him — these  are  inhabi- 
tants of  the  Fire,  and  they  remain  forever  in  it.  But 
those  who  believe  and  do  good,  they  are  inhabitants 
of  the  Garden.  They  remain  forever  in  it."  *  We 
are  able  to  trace  the  Jewish  doctrine  to  which  allu- 
sion is  here  made.  The  importance  of  the  covenant 
made  with  Abraham  was  so  great,  that  the  Jewish 
thinkers  could  not  conceive  it  to  be  annulled  by  any 
act  on  the  part  of  man.  One  who  had  received  cir- 
cumcision, and  who  was  thus  marked  as  being  in 
covenant  with  God,  could  not  be  punished  eternally, 
no  matter  how  bad  he  had  been.  It  was  recognized 
by  the  Eabbis,  therefore,  that  Gehenna  was  only  a 
purgatory  for  the  Jews,  and  that  when  their  purifica- 
tion was  accomplished  they  would  be  set  free.  It  was 

♦  Koran,  2^"  ",  cf.  Z'^\ 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  287 

even  said  that  tlieir  sojourn  would  be  only  twelve 
montlis.*     Similar  reasoning  has  led  to  the  theory  of 
the  Church  that  no  baptized  person  can  be  eternally 
lost.     It  is  against  this  theory  that  Mohammed  ar- 
gues, and  yet  the  theory  has  appeared  among  his 
followers.     Tradition  makes  him  say  that  the  people 
of  Paradise  will  enter  Paradise,  and  the  people  of 
Gehenna  will  enter  the  fire ;  then  God  will  bring  out 
whoever  has  in  his  heart  the  weight  of  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed  of  faith.    Then  they  will  come  out  with 
faces  already  bui-nt  to  a  coal  and  be  plunged  in  the 
river  of  life,  whereby  they  will  revive  as  the  grain 
springs  up  by  the  side  of  a  river.f     In  another  pas- 
sage he  who  is  thus  delivered  is  said  to  be  the  one 
who  says  there  is  no   God  hut  Allah  and  in  whose 
heart  is  a  grain  of  good.     The  case  seems  to  be  one 
in  which  the  traditions  have  invented  a  doctrine  con- 
trary to  the  express  words  of  the  Koran. 

One  somewhat  confused  passage  should  be  noticed, 
lest  we  seem  to  ignore  some  part  of  Mohammed's 
doctrine.  It  is  the  following  :  "  Between  the  two  is 
a  wall,  and  on  the  Araf  are  men  who  recognize  all  by 
their  marks  ;  and  they  call  to  the  inhabitants  of  Para- 
dise :  Peace  be  upon  you !  They  do  not  enter  though 
desiring  to.  And  when  their  looks  are  dii'ected 
toward  the  men  of  the  Fire,  they  say :  Our  Lord, 
place  us  not  with  the  unbelievers  1"  t-     It  is  evident 

*  "Weber,  /.  c,  p.  327  ff.  It  is  intimated  that  an  occasional  sin- 
ner might  be  found  who  must  be  remanded  eternally.  lu  that  case 
the  distinguishing  mark  would  be  effaced. 

\  Bochari^  I.,  pp.  10,  15. 

X  Koran,  7^'  ^ 


288  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

that  we  have  here  no  doctrine  of  purgatory.  The 
most  that  we  can  conclude  from  the  passage  is  that 
some  few  will  be  found  whose  deserts  are  so  equally 
balanced  that  it  is  impossible  to  consign  them  to 
either  place,  so  they  are  left  perched  on  the  dividing 
wall.  But  it  is  not  certain  that  Mohammed  laid  any 
stress  on  this  single  passage — which  indeed  may  have 
been  uttered  for  dramatic  effect. 

The  results  of  this  inquiry  may  be  briefly  formu- 
lated thus :  In  regard  to  the  life  beyond  the  grave 
Mohammed  was  powerfully  influenced  by  the  doc- 
trine of  the  preceding  revealed  religions,  especially 
by  the  doctrine  of  Christianity.  We  have  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  it  appealed  to  him  on  its  moral  and 
spiritual  side — on  its  moral  side  because  it  vindicated 
the  justice  of  God ;  on  its  religious  side  because  it 
gave  promise  of  satisfaction  in  the  presence  of  God. 
The  good  pleasure  of  God  was  one  of  the  joys  to 
which  he  looked  forward.  "  Do  not  count  those  who 
have  been  slain  in  the  cause  of  God  as  dead— nay ! 
they  live  with  Him,  and  there  they  are  nourished, 
rejoicing  in  what  God  gives  them  of  His  bounty,  and 
receiving  the  good  tidings  that  those  who  have  not 
yet  attained,  but  are  following  after  them,  shall  not 
suffer  fear  or  grief."  *  In  view  of  such  expressions 
and  the  declarations  already  noted,  that  the  present 
life  is  of  no  value  as  compared  with  the  life  to  come, 
we  cannot  doubt  the  real  religious  conviction  of  Mo- 
hammed. That,  in  adopting  it,  he  fitted  it  to  his  own 
taste  is  only  what  we  find  in  other  religions.  The 
material  and  the  sensuous  a2:>pealed  to  him  and  to  his 

*  Koran,  S'"'^  ^ 


THE  FUTURE  LIFE  289 

Arabs  as  ifc  appealed  to  Jews  and  Christians  of  that 
age.  His  heaven  is  not  very  different  from  the 
heaven  of  Ephraem  Syrus  nor  his  hell  different  in 
kind  from  that  painted  by  Dante  or  Michelangelo. 
The  accretions  to  his  doctrine  which  came  from  the 
Messianic  expectations  of  the  Jews  or  the  Chiliastic 
expectation  of  the  Christians,  are  due  rather  to  the 
traditionists  than  to  Mohammed  himself. 


19 


LECTUKE  X. 

CHURCH   AND   STATE 

When  David  tlie  Bethleliemite  incurred  tlie  suspi- 
cion of  Saul  liis  sovereign,  lie  was  in  an  evil  case. 
He  could  not  depend  upon  the  Israelites  to  harbor 
him  because  they  were  servants  of  Saul.  The  exter- 
mination of  the  priestly  clan  at  Nob  showed  how  per- 
ilous it  was  to  fall  under  the  suspicion  of  the  king. 
David's  own  clan  could  not  protect  him  except  at  the 
risk  of  a  similar  fate.  If  the  fugitive  should  seek 
asylum  with  the  neighboring  tribes  —  it  was  they 
against  whom  he  had  carried  arms  in  times  past,  and 
there  was  no  Philistine  or  Amalekite  or  Ammonite 
who  would  not  be  glad  to  take  blood  revenge  upon 
the  unprotected  Israelite.  The  man  cut  off  from  the 
protection  of  his  kin  is  an  outlaw,  and  his  blood  is 
free  to  the  first  comer.  The  only  way  he  can  be  safe 
is  to  gather  about  him  others  as  desperately  situated 
as  himself,  to  make  of  them  a  band  of  brothers,  and  to 
establish  their  right  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  David 
did  this  and  soon  became  formidable,  was  gladly  re- 
ceived as  a  vassal  by  the  Emir  of  Gath,  obtained  a 
town  for  himself  and  his  men,  and  grew  in  strength 
by  carrying  war  against  the  Bedawin. 

Nor  was  this  all.  At  the  death  of  Saul  the  king- 
dom fell  to  pieces.     The  power  of  Ishbaal  was  never 

290 


CIIURCU  AND  STATE  291 

more  than  a  shadow.  The  clans,  under  the  Philistine 
oppression,  lost  the  feeling  of  unity  and  the  hope  of 
independence.  This  was  David's  opportunity.  The 
Sheikhs  of  Hebron  found  the  alliance  of  a  captain 
with  six  hundred  men  an  advantage  if  accepted — the 
danger  of  rejecting  it  was  equally  obvious.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  they  received  him  and  made  him  their 
king.  Once  the  rule  of  a  vigorous  man  was  estab- 
lished, his  kingdom  could  not  help  growing  by  the 
accretion  of  the  fragments  into  which  the  kingdom  of 
Saul  had  broken.  The  sequel  is  well  known.  The 
power  of  David  extended  far  beyond  the  boundaries 
of  Israel,  and  the  impetus  was  not  wholly  spent  in 
the  reign  of  Solomon.  But  when  Solomon's  rash  and 
ill-advised  son  came  to  the  throne,  the  centrifugal 
force  again  asserted  itseK.  The  tributaries  revolted, 
the  northern  tribes  elected  a  king  of  their  own,  and 
the  house  of  David  was  left  with  only  a  weak  re- 
minder of  its  former  greatness. 

This  very  familiar  story  illustrates  a  law  v/hich  we 
find  exemplified  again  and  again  in  the  history  of  the 
East.  Its  operation  may  be  observed  in  Middle  Ara- 
bia even  in  our  own  day — for  there  the  tribal  society 
survives  in  much  the  same  form  in  which  it  existed 
in  Israel  in  the  time  of  the  Judges.  The  unit  of  so- 
ciety is  the  clan.  Each  clan  has  its  own  ten*itory 
which  it  defends  against  all  comers,  while  itself  ready 
at  any  minute  to  invade  the  pasture  of  its  neighbors. 
Within  the  clan  all  are  brothers.  Beyond  the  clan  all 
are  enemies.  There  is  no  government  in  our  sense  of 
the  word.  Every  man  does  that  which  is  right  in  his 
own  eyes.     The  Sheikhs  have  a  moral  influence  only. 


292  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  clans  enter  into  association  with  each  other  by 
treaty,  but  this  constitutes  simply  a  larger  clan  united 
by  the  fiction  of  adoption  or  artificial  brotherhood. 
Such  association  does  not  make  a  state.  But  if  an 
enterprising  man  in  one  of  the  clans  is  able  to  attach 
a  band  of  soldiers  to  his  person,  government,  in  our 
sense  of  the  word,  begins.  The  case  of  David  is  a 
case  in  point.  So  is  the  case  of  Abimelech  of  Shec- 
hem  who  established  himself  as  Emir  of  Israel  by 
means  of  a  band  of  mercenaries.  Having  secured  the 
allegiance  of  his  immediate  kinsmen,  such  a  chief 
rapidly  extends  his  power.  His  power  is  in  fact  largely 
dependent  on  the  ability  to  content  his  subjects  with 
the  spoil  of  their  enemies.  The  normal  course  of 
such  a  kingdom  is  to  keep  on  expanding  as  long  as  it 
is  ruled  by  a  capable  and  energetic  prince.  But  it 
falls  to  pieces  as  rapidly  as  it  was  built  up,  if  once  a 
weakling  comes  to  the  throne. 

This  law  wrought  in  favor  of  Mohammed.  But 
there  was  a  difference  between  him  and  an  ordinary 
freebooter.  He  brought  a  principle  into  play  which 
had  not  earlier  had  a  chance  to  show  its  power  in 
Arabia;  that  principle  was  religious  faith.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this,  his  kingdom  would  have  been  no 
more  enduring  than  the  hundreds  of  little  monarchies 
which  all  along  the  course  of  history  have  arisen  in 
Arabia  and  have  disappeared  leaving  no  trace  behind. 
In  this  also  there  is  a  resemblance  between  Islam  and 
the  Old  Testament  history.  For  the  tenacity  of  the 
Kingdom  of  David  is  no  doubt  due  to  the  fact  that  it 
based  itself  distinctly  on  the  religion  of  Yahweh. 

These  considerations  enable  us  to  understand  Mo- 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  293 

hammed's  career  when  he  became  a  ruler  of  men.  In 
the  eighteenth  century,  great  indignation  was  ex- 
pressed against  him — a  man  who  left  his  native  land 
to  turn  his  hand  against  her.  He  was  said  thus  to 
have  thrown  off  the  mask  which  he  had  hitherto 
worn,  and  to  have  discovered  his  treasonable  designs. 
These  charges  totally  mistake  the  i30sition.  The 
Arab  has  no  country  in  the  sense  in  which  we  use  the 
word.  His  attachment  is  solely  to  his  clan.  But 
Mohammed's  clan  cast  him  off.  They  no  longer  de- 
fended him  against  their  allies.  He  was  already  an 
outlaw.  The  state  of  war  existed  between  him  and  the 
Meccans  by  their  act,  not  by  his.  The  Meccans  un- 
derstood this.  If  we  may  believe  tradition,  they  tried 
to  intercept  him  and  kill  him  on  his  journey  to  Me- 
dina. From  their  own  point  of  view  this  was  the 
only  reasonable  thing  to  do.  That  they  were  not 
more  strenuous  in  the  matter  is  probably  to  be  ac- 
counted for  by  their  contempt  for  him.  They  sup- 
posed the  poor  fanatic  unable  to  do  them  harm. 

It  is  probable,  moreover,  that  the  Meccans  looked 
upon  Medina  as  a  harmless  or  insignificant  city.  It 
was  in  fact  far  from  formidable.  Medina  was  not  a 
city  in  our  sense  of  the  word.  It  was  simply  an 
oasis  over  which  the  inhabitants  were  scattered  in 
villages.  A  group  of  villages  occupied  the  place  where 
the  city  proper  now  stands.  But  it  had  no  common 
wall  for  some  time  after  the  arrival  of  Mohammed. 
Burckhardt^  describes  the  suburbs  of  the  present 
city  as  consisting  of  "  large  courtyards,  with  low  apart- 

'^  Travels  in  Arabia  (1829),  p.  32G;  Wellhauscn,  Skizzen  unci 
Vorarbeitcn^  IV.,  p.  18. 


294  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

ments  built  around  them  on  the  ground  floor,  and 
separated  from  each  other  by  gardens  and  planta- 
tions. .  .  .  Each  Hosh  [court]  contains  thirty  or 
forty  families,  thus  forming  so  many  separate  hamlets, 
which  in  times  of  unsettled  government  are  frequently 
engaged  in  desperate  feuds  with  each  other."  Such  a 
loose  agglomeration  of  settlements  was  the  so-called 
city  in  the  time  of  Mohammed.  Except  that  they 
were  settled  more  closely  together,  its  inhabitants 
differed  in  nothing  from  the  dwellers  in  the  desert. 
There  was  the  same  lack  of  government  which  exists 
among  the  Bedawin.  The  history  of  the  people  be- 
fore the  coming  of  Mohammed  is  a  chronicle  of  little 
wars  between  the  clans.  Two  of  these  clans  had  lit- 
erally exterminated  each  other,  one  having  been 
destroyed  to  the  last  man,  the  other  having  two  men 
left  who  soon  after  died  without  issue.  Not  long  be- 
fore the  coming  of  Mohammed  all  the  clans  had 
joined  on  one  side  or  the  other  in  a  pitched  battle, 
which  ended  in  the  exhaustion  of  all  parties.  Even 
then  there  was  no  peace,  but  war  was  carried  on  by 
isolated  murders  and  assassinations.  The  community 
was,  in  fact,  in  a  state  of  anarchy."^ 

Into  this  anarchy  Mohammed  came  as  a  fixed  point 
upon  which  peace  could  take  hold.  He  was  the  head 
of  a  small  band  of  Meccan  converts  who  had  under- 
gone the  loss  of  all  things  for  his  sake.  These  y>^ere 
soon  joined  by  the  fugitives  of  Abyssinia,  who  were 
no  less  devoted  to  him.  His  religion  had  been 
preached  at  Medina  for  more  than  a  year  before  his 
coming,  and  there  was  a  considerable  number  of  sin- 
*For  a  more  extended  description  cf.  Wellhauson,  IV.,  p.  27  ff. 


CHUIWH  AND  STATE  295 

cere  converts.  With  this  following,  it  is  not  strange 
that  Mohammed  was  recognized  as  the  leading  man 
in  the  community. 

Had  he  not  been  a  man  of  character,  however,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  he  would  have  become  the  autocrat 
that  he  actually  became.  One  great  source  of  power 
to  a  man  in  his  position  is  the  ability  to  arbitrate  be- 
tween contending  parties.  A  judge  who  will  not  take 
bribes  nor  regard  persons  is  hard  to  find.  He  is  prized 
all  the  more  when  he  is  found.  Now  Mohammed 
was  honest ;  he  was  generally  free  from  bias — so  far 
as  an  Arab  can  be  free  from  bias;  he  claimed  divine 
direction.  He  naturally  became  the  judge  of  the  com- 
munity, just  as  naturally  as  Moses  became  the  judge 
of  Israel. 

Now  to  the  Semitic  mind,  the  king  is  the  judge  of 
the  nation.  The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  passages 
to  prove  this.  The  description  of  the  ideal  king  in 
the  Seventy-second  Psalm  en:iphasizes  this  function  : 
*'  He  shall  judge  thy  people  with  righteousness,  and 
thy  poor  with  justice."  When  a  man  establishes  him- 
self as  supreme  judge  of  a  people,  he  is  well  on  the 
way  to  kingly  power.  The  other  function  of  the  king 
is  caiTying  on  war.  It  is  to  go  out  before  them  against 
their  enemies,  that  Israel  demands  a  kiug  in  the  days 
of  Samuel :  "  W^e  will  have  a  king  over  us  .  .  . 
that  our  king  may  judge  us  and  go  out  before  us  and 
fight  our  battles."  '^  This  work  also  fell  to  Moham- 
med. The  state  of  war  was  in  Ai*abia  the  state  of 
nature.  The  only  way  in  which  the  Moslems  could 
sustain  themselves  was  by  raids  upon  their  enemies. 

*1  Sam.  8'«f. 


296  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

In  these  Mohammed,  by  his  very  position,  was  forced 
to  be  the  leader.  Although  he  had  had  no  experience 
in  fighting,  and  although  he  was  not  a  man  of  physi- 
cal courage,  yet  he  was  on  the  whole  a  successful  gen- 
eral. He  knew  how  to  maintain  discipline,  and  he 
knew  how  to  encourage  his  followers  in  the  face  of 
defeat.  As  judge  and  as  general  he  fulfilled  the 
Semitic  ideal  of  kingship.  It  cannot  be  wondered  at 
that  the  kingship  came  to  him. 

The  course  of  history  then  runs  a  close  parallel  be- 
tween Israel  and  Islam.  It  is  difficult  to  make  out 
how  much  Biblical  influence  was  at  work  in  the  proc- 
ess. At  Mecca  we  cannot  discover  that  Mohammed 
had  any  kingly  aspirations.  He  is  careful  to  disclaim 
any  power  over  his  people ;  he  declares  that  he  seeks 
no  reward  from  them  ;  he  calls  himself  only  a  warner 
and  a  bringer  of  tidings ;  he  does  not  (apparently) 
adduce  the  preceding  prophets  as  claiming  sover- 
eignty over  their  people.  To  all  appearance,  he  ex- 
jjected  the  government  of  Mecca  to  remain  in  the 
hands  of  the  Sheikhs,  even  if  the  people  should  ac- 
cept Islam.  A  seat  in  their  council  as  adviser  was 
perhaps  the  most  that  he  expected.  He  seems  to  have 
known  of  no  Biblical  precedent  for  claiming  more. 
At  Medina,  however,  where  the  cares  of  government 
were  forced  upon  him,  he  may  have  had  a  different 
light.  In  this  period  he  tells  an  Old  Testament  story 
that  would  serve  him  as  precedent.     It  is  as  follows : 

* '  Dost  thou  not  know  concerning  the  aristocracy  of  Is- 
rael after  the  time  of  Moses,  how  they  said  to  one  of  their 
prophets  :  Raise  us  up  a  king  and  we  will  fight  in  the  way 
of  God  !     He  replied:  Perchance  when  you  are  ordered  to 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  297 

fight,  you  will  refuse.  But  they  said :  Why  should  we  not 
fight  in  the  way  of  God,  when  we  have  been  thrust  out  of  our 
lionies  and  away  from  our  children  ?  Yet,  when  they  were 
ordered  to  fight,  they  turned  their  backs  except  a  few  of 
them,  and  God  knows  the  evil-doers.  Their  prophet  said  to 
them:  God  has  sent  you  Talut  as  king.  They  replied:  How 
can  the  kingdom  be  his,  when  Ave  are  more  worthy  of  it 
than  he,  and  he  has  not  received  abundance  of  property ! 
The  prophet  said :  God  has  chosen  him  above  you,  and  has 
increased  him  in  excellence  both  of  mind  and  body;  God 
gives  the  kingdom  to  whom  He  will,  and  God  is  benevolent 
and  wise.  The  prophet  added :  A  sign  of  his  kingship  is 
that  he  will  bring  you  the  Ark,  on  which  is  the  Shekina 
from  your  Lord,  a  relic  left  by  the  people  of  Moses  and 
Aaron;  angels  will  bear  it — in  this  is  a  sign  for  you  if  you 
are  believers.  And  when  Talut  set  out  with  the  troops,  he 
said:  God  will  test  you  by  a  stream;  whoever  drinks  of  it 
is  none  of  mine,  and  he  who  does  not  taste  it,  except  by 
taking  up  a  little  in  his  hand,  shall  be  mine.  But  all  ex- 
cept a  few  drank.  And  when  he  and  those  who  believed 
had  crossed  the  stream,  they  said :  We  have  no  power  against 
Goliath  and  his  soldiers  to-day  !  But  those  who  were  mind- 
ful that  they  must  meet  God  said:  How  many  a  small  troop 
has  overcome  a  larger  one  by  the  permission  of  God,  for 
God  is  on  the  side  of  those  who  are  steadfast.  And  when 
they  went  out  against  Goliath  and  his  soldiers,  they  said : 
O  Lord,  supply  us  with  steadfastness,  and  make  our  feet 
firm,  and  help  us  against  the  unbelievers  !  So  they  put 
them  to  flight  by  permission  of  God,  and  David  killed  Go- 
liath, and  God  gave  him  the  kingdom  and  wisdom,  and 
taught  him  what  He  would. "  * 

We  see  that  the  narrative  is  a  confused  reminis- 
cence of  the  election  of  Saul,  the  march  of  Gideon, 
and  the  battle  of  David  with  Goliath.     The  point  of 
interest  is  the  manner  in  which  the  incident  is  made 
*  Koran  4^"-«^^    Saul  is  named  Talut  to  rhyme  vith  Jalut  (Goliath). 


298  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

to  reflect  the  situation  at  Medina.     The  king  is  de- 
manded in  order  that  the  people  may  fight  in  the  way 
of  God,  Avhere  Ve  should  say  fight  in  the  cause  of 
God.      The  phrase  is  the  standing  phrase  used  for 
the  wars  of  Mohammed  against  the  unbelievers.    The 
prophet  in  the  text  expresses  the  doubt  whether  the 
people  would  be  willing  to  fight.     This  doubt  was  a 
reflection  of  Mohammed's  own  experience,  for  a  party 
of  Medinans  under  an  influential  leader  was  alwa3's 
ready  to  dissuade  their  fellow-citizens  from  joining 
Mohammed's  campaigns.     The  Israelites,  in  the  nar- 
rative, comjilain  that  they  have  been  thrust  out  of 
tlieir  homes  and  away  from  their  children — which  was 
exactly  the  case  with  Mohammed  and  the  Fugitives. 
These  features  of  his  own  situation,  being  found  in 
the   narrative,   make    it    probable   that   Mohammed 
regards  himself  as  the  antitype  of  Saul,  or  of  Saul 
and  David  both.     We  have,  therefore,  one  instance 
in  which  Biblical  precedent  influenced  Mohammed's 
view  of  his   ow^n  position  as  civil  ruler.     There  is 
another  possibly  in  the  verso  which  speaks  of  the 
prophets  as  warriors  :  "It  never  came  to  pass  that  a 
prophet    made   captives  until   he   had    made   great 
slaughter."  ^     But  the  assertion  seems  evolved  from 
the  situation  rather  than  from  any  Biblical  precedent. 
It  is  rather  remarkable  that  Mohammed  makes  no 
use  of  some  Biblical  precedents  which  he  would  most 
naturally  have  cited  had  he  laid  emphasis  uj^on  this 
matter  of  kingship.     Moses  was  prophet  and  civil 
ruler ;  David  was  prophet  and  king  ;  so  was  Solomon. 
But  Mohammed  nowhere  calls  attention  to  them  in 

*  Koran  8"". 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  299 

order  to  jastify  Lis  own  assumption  of  power.  The 
reason  is,  that  when  he  published  the  narratives 
which  deal  with  these  characters,  he  did  not  himself 
expect  to  become  a  worldly  ruler.  We  are  led  to  the 
same  conclusion  by  his  not  making  use  of  the  Mes- 
sianic idea.  The  Jews  at  Medina  held  the  Messianic 
hope.  They  taunted  their  Arab  neighbors  with  the 
expectation  that  the  Messiah  would  come  and  put  the 
power  into  their  hands  while  reducing  the  Gentiles 
to  servitude.  This  expectation  influenced  the  Arabs, 
so  that  when  they  heard  of  Mohammed,  they  argued 
that  this  was  the  expected  Messiah,  and  that  by 
adopting  him  as  theirs  they  could  anticipate  the  Jews 
and  disappoint  them  of  their  hopes.  But  while  the 
Messianic  hope  had  thus  an  undoubted  influence 
in  establishing  Mohammed  at  Medina,  we  find  him 
making  no  further  use  of  it.  The  name  or  title  of 
Messiah,  he  connects  always  with  Jesus,  the  son  of 
Mary. 

The  growth  of  the  state  in  Islam  was  much  more 
rapid  than  in  Israel,  but  it  followed  the  same  course. 
As  we  learn  from  the  book  of  Judges  Israel  ob- 
tained a  foothold  in  Canaan  by  slow  degrees.  First  a 
few  families  would  settle  upon  unoccupied  territory. 
Then  they  would  take  possession  of  part  of  a  town. 
Ill  this  they  would  naturally  have  their  own  quarter, 
and  their  relations  with  the  Canaanites  v/ould  be  reg- 
ulated by  a  treaty  or  covenant.  So  Canaanites  and 
Israelites  dwelt  together  in  Shechem  in  the  time  of 
Abimelech.  As  the  Israelites  grev»^  stronger  they 
would  reduce  the  Canaanites  to  the  position  of  clients 
or  "sojouiiiers."     Thus,  in  many  towiiR,  the  np^v^--- 


300  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

ites  paid  tribute.  A  process  of  amalgamation  going 
on  all  the  time,  at  last  those  Canaanites  who  were 
most  tenacious  of  their  separate  custom  would  be 
weak  enough  to  be  exterminated,  as  were  the  Gibeon- 
ites  by  Saul.  Precisely  such  was  the  history  of  Is- 
lam. Mohammed  and  his  followers  first  occupied 
ground  given  them  by  the  Medinans.  They  then  en- 
tered upon  a  covenant  relation  with  all  the  tribes  of 
the  oasis.  Gradually  the  community  of  true  believers 
absorbed  a  considerable  part  of  the  older  inhabi- 
tants. The  Jews  which  refused  to  amalgamate  wdth 
the  Moslems  were  driven  out  or  exterminated.  But 
the  process  which  in  Israel  extended  over  some  cen- 
turies occupied  in  Islam  only  ten  years. 

It  seems  a  pity  that  the  development  was  so  rapid. 
Had  it  stopped  at  the  stage  upon  which  it  entered 
when  Mohammed  promulgated  his  covenant  with  the 
inhabitants  of  Medina,  it  would  have  been  better  for 
the  after  world.  Copies  of  that  instrument  have 
come  down  to  us."^  It  is  remarkable  for  the  modest 
position  which  Mohammed  claims  for  himself  in 
relation  to  the  community  at  large.  He  evidently 
desires  to  leave  the  social  organization  as  nearly  as 
possible  just  as  it  is.  The  autonomy  of  the  clans  is 
not  disturbed  except  in  certain  matters  in  which  com- 
mon action  is  necessary.  There  is  no  endeavor  to 
enforce  uniformity  of  religion.  Even  the  heathen 
are  allowed  to  remain  peaceably  in  their  old  relations. 
The  Jews  are  continued  under  the  clientage,  and  of 

*  It  is  translated  by  Wellbausen,  Skizzen^  IV.,  p.  G7  ff.  The  gen- 
uineness seems  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  embodies  none  of  the  theo- 
cratic ideas  of  the  later  time. 


CEURCn  AND  STATE  301 

course  under  tbe  protection,  of  the  Araos.  The  only 
innovations  concern  common  enmity  to  the  Koreish 
(of  Mecca),  common  action  in  defensive  war,  and  the 
bringing  of  disputes  before  God  and  Mohammed  for 
arbitration.  Had  all  parties  been  willing  to  live  to- 
gether under  this  constitution,  we  should  have  seen 
a  state  arise  with  some  measure  of  religious  tolera- 
tion. 

But  unfortunately  toleration  was  not  understood  at 
that  time.  Mohammed  valued  his  document  only  as 
the  best  that  could  be  done  under  the  circumstances. 
The  Jews,  on  their  side,  had  no  higher  ideal.  They 
were  as  far  from  desiring  to  live  in  intimacy  with  men 
of  another  religion  as  was  Mohammed.  They  had  no 
realizing  sense  of  the  danger  of  their  position.  They 
could  not  keep  from  giving  provocation  to  their 
neighbor  ;  and  so,  when  he  groAV  stronger,  he  crushed 
them  as  Saul  crushed  the  Gibeonites,  and  as  David 
crushed  the  Jebusites.  With  their  defeat  and  expul- 
sion, the  principle  of  one  religion  in  the  state  virtu- 
ally triumphed. 

The  principle  of  Islam  is  fixed  by  the  experience 
of  Mohammed.  What  history  actually  brought  forth 
has  become  binding  i:>recedent  and  is  justified  by 
the  theologians.  The  Moslem  has  noiv  no  thought 
of  the  state  except  that  it  is  a  theocracy.  Its  basis 
is  the  true  religion ;  its  ruler  is  the  spiritual  as  well  as 
the  secular  head  of  the  commonwealth.  There  is  no 
difference  between  church  and  state.  The  church  is 
the  state.  Instead  of  a  state  church,  there  is  a  church 
state.  We  can  make  the  theory  clear  to  our  minds 
by  looking  at  the  Papacy.     The  actual  rise  of  the 


302  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

Pope  to  temporal  power  was  not  unlike  the  rise  of 
Mohammed.  The  Bishop  of  Eome  was  the  spiritual 
head  of  a  spiritual  societj^  So  long  as  the  civil  power 
was  vigorous,  he  was  nothing  more.  But  when  the 
civil  power  was  broken,  then  what  there  was  of  social 
order  rallied  around  the  only  authority  that  existed. 
Had  he  so  willed,  the  Pope  himself  could  not  have 
prevented  this  process.  But  we  may  suppose,  with- 
out any  injurious  reflections  upon  the  Pontiff,  that  he 
was  not  unwilling  to  see  his  power  increase.  To  him 
it  was  increased  power  to  do  good,  and — so  far — a 
triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Even  the  Apostle 
Paul  assumes  that  if  the  saints  are  competent  to 
judge  the  world,  they  are  competent  to  decide  the 
petty  issues  of  a  civil  lawsuit.  It  was  not  by  vio- 
lent usurpation  therefore  that  the  Pope  became 
civil  administrator  of  Italy.  Had  the  process  gone 
on  until  the  ambition  of  the  ablest  Popes  was  grati- 
fied, we  should  have  seen  Europe  united  under  a 
ruler  who  combined  in  himself  the  offices  of  Emperor 
and  of  High  Priest.  This  would  have  divided  the 
world  between  a  Christian  Caliph  and  a  Moslem  Pope. 
The  Ultramontane  doctrine  of  the  temporal  power  of 
the  Pope  is  in  fact  exactly  the  Moslem  doctrine  of 
the  Caliphate. 

The  name  theocracy,  we  are  told,  was  first  invented 
by  Joseph  us.  But  it  expresses  a  theory  which  has 
been  almost  universally  accepted  except  among  the 
most  barbarous  of  men.  That  God  is  in  fact  the 
ruler  of  men,  follows  logically  from  His  attributes. 
It  is  equally  obvious  that  the  man  actually  appointed 
by  God  to  rule,  rules  by  divine  right.     He  is  God's 


GUURGII  AND  STATE  303 

representative  on  the  earth.  The  ancient  Persians 
are  said  to  have  seen  in  their  kings  incarnations  of 
the  Godhead.  Divine  honors  were  paid  to  Koman 
Emperors.  In  Israel  it  was  no  strange  thing  to  have 
God  say  to  the  reigning  monarch  :  "  Thou  art  my 
Son,  to-day  have  I  begotten  thee."  The  King  of 
Israel,  even  Saul,  was  the  Anointed  of  Yahweh.  In 
the  theory  of  some  of  the  Hebrew  writers,  at  least, 
the  prophetic  office  brought  with  it  kingly  power. 
Samuel,  in  the  picture  drawn  of  him  in  one  Old  Tes- 
tament document,  is  the  theocratic  ruler  of  the  na- 
tion—so absolute  that  he  makes  and  unmakes  kings, 
always,  of  course,  by  the  divine  direction.  The  con- 
clusion is  indeed  easily  drawn,  that  if  God  sends  His 
commands  by  a  messenger,  obedience  to  the  messen- 
ger is  obedience  to  God.  We  rather  wonder  that  the 
conclusion  was  not  more  stringently  drawn  in  Israel, 
and  we  can  easily  see  that  if  Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  had 
called  about  him  those  seven  thousand  who  had  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  he  might  easily  have  seated 
a  prophetic  dynasty  on  the  throne  of  Ahab.  It  was 
just  because  the  kingly  authority  already  had  a  divine 
sanction  that  the  prophets  of  Israel  did  not  draw  the 
conclusion  which  Mohammed,  in  the  absence  of  a 
king,  was  able  to  draw  and  to  enforce.  The  Macca- 
bean  dynasty  is  another  example  of  the  way  in  which 
the  religious  and  the  secular  power  naturally  combine 
in  the  same  hands. 

It  is  the  happiness  of  Christianity  that  it  escaped 
making  any  declaration  concerning  divine  right.  Its 
formative  period  fell  in  a  time  when  the  civil  govern- 
ment was  taken  care  of  ])y  the  Ilomans.     It  therefore 


304  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

necessarily  separated  Church  and  State  and  learned 
to  distinguish  between  them.  The  civil  ruler  is  still 
ordained  of  God  to  be  a  terror  to  evil-doers.  But  he 
is  dissociated  from  the  care  for  religion  which  the 
Jews,  and  after  them  the  Moslems,  thought  to  be  a 
part  of  the  monarch's  functions.  Mediasval  Christi- 
anity (we  should  not  forget)  took  substantially  the 
same  position  with  Jews  and  Moslems.  It  failed  to 
apprehend  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
testimony  of  the  New  Testament  to  the  divine  sanc- 
tion of  the  state  as  a  separate  entity  is  only  now  be- 
ginning to  be  understood  in  enlightened  Europe  and 
America.  It  is  a  part  of  the  present  misery  of  the 
Eastern  world  that  all  classes  of  society  are  unable  to 
conceive  even  the  possibility  of  such  testimony. 

The  system  which  sees  in  the  state  a  theocracy 
necessarily  regulates  religion  by  law.  How  Islam 
came  near  toleration  and  how  it  failed,  we  have  already 
seen.  Islam  does  not,  however,  even  now,  treat  Ju- 
daism and  Christianity  as  it  treats  heathenism.  The 
latter  must  be  destroyed  because  it  is  false,  and  be- 
cause it  is  disobedience  to  God.  The  first  conse- 
quence is  the  importance  of  the  sacred  war,  that  is  : 
the  war  for  the  spread  of  Islam.  The  reason  for  the 
emphasis  placed  upon  this,  is  seen  in  what  has  already 
been  said  about  the  fortunes  of  Medina.  It  was  a 
matter  of  life  and  death  there,  to  make  a  successful 
campaign.  The  Koran  of  the  latter  part  of  Moham- 
med's life  is  full  of  exhortations  to  take  part  in  the 
war.  Those  who  may  fall  in  the  cause  of  God  are 
promised  the  highest  place  in  Paradise.  Those  who 
are  backward  in  entering  this  service  are  blamed  and 


CHURCH  AND  STATE  305 

denounced  for  their  hypocrisy.     It  is  assumed,  finally, 
that  war  must  go  on  until  all  heathenism  has  been  put 
down.     "  Say  to  the  unbelievers,  that  if  they  make  an 
end  [of  doing  evil]  they  shall  be  forgiven.     But  if 
they  repeat  it — the  sentence  of  ancient  peoples  was 
carried  out !     Then  fight  them  until  there  is  no  more 
division  of  opinion^  and  the  religion  is  wholly  Al- 
lah's." *    Tradition  correctly  interprets  this  and  simi- 
lar passages  when  it  says  that  Mohammed  was  com^ 
manded  to  make  war  on  men  until  they  should  say  : 
there  is  no  God  but  Allah ;  or  more  fully  :  "I  am 
commanded  to  make  war  on  men  until  they  shall  con- 
fess that  there  is  no  God  but  Allah  and  that  Moham- 
med is  His  Apostle,  shall  be  steadfast  in  prayer,  and 
give   the  legal   alms :  and  when  one   shall  perform 
these  things,  his  blood  and  his  property  shall  be  se- 
cure from  mo  except  in  conformity  with  the  laws."  f 
The  right  and  duty  of  propagating  Islam  by  the  sword 
has  therefore  become  fully  established  as  a  part  of  the 
system.   But  we  should  remember  that  in  Mohammed's 
view,  this  was  against  idolaters  only.     He  was  content 
with  the  submission  of  Jews  and  Christians,  without 
conversion.    As  we  have  seen,  he  at  first  supposed  that 
the  three  faiths  were  one  in  substance,  and  that  their 
adherents   could    be   welded   into   one   communion. 
But  he  was  undeceived  by  the  conduct  of  the  Jews 
of  Medina.     These  adhered  to  their  own  peculiar  cus- 
toms with  the  tenacity  which  their  race  has  always 
shown  in  the  matter  of  their  faith.     The  more  Mo- 
liammed  saw  of  their  exclusiveness,  the  more  clear  it 
became  to  him  that  no  real  union  with  them  was  pos- 

*  Koran  8^^  ^  f  Mishcat^  I.,  p.  5,  ef.  Bochari^  IV.,  p.  5. 

20 


306  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

sible.  Under  the  plea  of  treachery  on  their  part  he 
expelled  them  from  Medina.  But  elsewhere  in  Ara- 
bia he  was  willing  that  they  should  remain,  on  condi- 
tion of  payment  of  tribute.  At  Chaibar,  for  example, 
he  spared  their  lives  and  left  them  in  possession  of 
their  lands,  but  on  the  condition  of  paying  one-half 
the  fruits  to  the  Moslems.  This  precedent  became 
law  for  the  treatment  of  Jews  and  Christians,  and 
is  formally  sanctioned  by  this  verse  of  the  Koran  : 
"  Make  war  on  those  who  do  not  believe  in  God  and 
the  Last  Day,  and  who  do  not  prohibit  what  God  and 
His  Apostle  have  prohibited,  and  on  those  of  the 
peoples  who  have  received  a  Scripture  but  do  not 
profess  the  true  religion,  until  they  pay  a  tax  for 
each  one  and  humble  themselves."  ^  The  terms 
used  leave  no  doubt  that  Jews  and  Christians  are 
meant. 

For  the  extermination  of  idolaters,  Mohammed 
might  have  pleaded  the  precedent  of  the  Book  of 
Joshua.  The  Book  of  Joshua  makes  no  formal  pro- 
vision for  conversion  of  the  Canaanites.  But  it  is 
evident,  from  the  example  of  Rahab,  that  it  was  open 
to  the  Canaanites  to  join  the  Hebrew  community  if 
they  would.  Nor  do  I  find  that  other  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament  take  a  less  rigid  position.  Idolatry 
is  sin  and  its  devotees  must  be  punished,  such  is  the 
general  tenor  of  these  writings.  Their  view,  indeed, 
does  not  generally  extend  beyond  the  boundaries  of 
their  own  land.  When  the  Hebrews  were  able  to 
bring  other  nations  under  tribute,  they  did  so  without 
too  curious  inquiry  into  their  religion,  though  in  some 

*  Koran  O^". 


GRURCII  AND  STATE  307 

instances,  at  least,  the  gods  of  the  conquered  nations 
were  destroyed. 

This  need  not  be  developed  at  length,  because  the 
precedents  seem  to  have  been  unknown  to  Mo- 
hammed. But  the  general  principle  on  which  his  rule 
was  based  was  common  to  him  and  other  religious 
leaders.  No  religion  can  admit  that  other  religions 
are  as  good  as  itseK.  The  high  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity to  be  the  one  true  religion  are  writ  large  in 
the  New  Testament.  To  a  certain  stage  of  human 
thought  it  seems  natural,  indeed  it  seems  inevitable, 
that  so  important  a  thing  as  religion  should  be  fos- 
tered by  the  state.  If  it  be  the  truth,  why  not  make 
it  triumph  by  the  civil  power?  What  Christianity 
would  have  done  had  it  been  compelled  to  organize  a 
civil  government  in  the  Apostolic  age  we  cannot  tell. 
The  Apostles  were  but  men.  They  had  the  ideals  of 
their  age.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  they  would  have  in- 
stituted a  state  much  like  that  of  the  Caliphs.  We 
have  reason  to  be  thankful  that  they  were  not  allowed 
to  try  the  experiment.  We  know  what  happened 
when  Christianity  actually  came  to  control  the  throne 
of  the  Empire.  Justinian  required  all  his  subjects  to 
acknowledge  the  orthodox  creed,*  and  the  persecu- 
tion of  heretics  is  the  standing  subject  of  Byzantine 
annals.  Had  Mohammed  cared  to  inquire  into  Chris- 
tian practice,  as  ilhistrated  in  the  Byzantium  of  his 
time,  he  would  have  found  abundant  precedent  for 
his  course.  And  at  a  later  day,  tlie  Crusaders  and 
the  persecutors  of  the  Jews  showed  the  Moslem  prin- 
ciple in  full  force  in  Christian  lands. 

*  Kattcnl)UP(;Ii,  Confessionskrnide^  I.,  p.  .'>77. 


308  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

The  identity  of  Church  and  State  in  Islam  involves 
also  this  proposition :  The  Koran  is  the  civil  as  well 
as  the  religious  law  of  all  Moslems.  As  we  have  seen, 
there  is  no  distinction  of  obligation.  A  man  is  as 
much  bound  to  perform  the  ablution  as  he  is  to  pay 
his  taxes.  In  theory  the  judge  is  as  competent  to 
punish  him  for  neglect  of  the  one  as  he  is  to  punish 
him  for  neglect  of  the  other.  In  practice  it  is  of 
course  not  easy  to  call  men  to  account  for  religious 
dereliction.  But  in  the  more  strict  Mohammedan 
states,  officers  are  not  infrequently  appointed  whose 
duty  it  is  to  see  that  all  the  citizens  come  to  the 
stated  prayers.  Now  the  introduction  of  a  code  for 
Arabia  was  an  almost  unmixed  blessing.  There  had 
been  no  law  in  the  desert.  With  the  triumph  of  Islam, 
the  tribes  came  into  the  peace  of  Allah.  Society  was 
brought  into  order,  and  there  was  a  recognized  stand- 
ard of  judgment.  But  the  establishment  of  any  code 
as  a  perpetual  law  is  a  misfortune.  Yet  Mohammed 
was  only  following  Biblical  precedent.  For  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  Pentateuch  occupies,  for  the  Jew,  just 
the  place  taken  by  the  Koran  among  the  Moslems. 
Were  the  conservative  Jews  to  be  put  into  possession 
of  Palestine  to-morrow,  we  cannot  doubt  that  they 
would  attempt  to  restore  the  Tora  to  its  place  as  the 
supreme  civil  and  ecclesiastical  law  of  that  land. 
Every  violation  of  its  provisions  concerning  ritual — 
sacrifice,  lawful  food,  purifications — would  become  an 
offence  against  the  civil  law,  and  would  be  within  the 
cognizance  of  the  courts.  The  same  theory  has  pre- 
vailed more  or  less  among  Christians.  The  West- 
minster Asscmlily  of  Divines  defined  it  as  the  duty 


CUURCU  AND  STATE  309 

of  the  civil  magistrate  :  "to  take  order  that  unity  and 
peace  be  preserved  in  the  Church,  that  the  truth  of 
God  be  kept  pure  and  entire,  that  all  blasphemies 
and  heresies  be  suppressed,  all  corruptions  and 
abuses  in  worship  or  discipline  [be]  prevented  or  re- 
formed, and  all  the  ordinances  of  God  duly  settled, 
administered,  and  observed — for  the  better  effecting 
whereof  he  hath  power  to  call  synods,  to  be  present 
at  them,  and  to  provide  that  whatever  is  transacted 
in  them  be  according  to  the  mind  of  God."'"  In 
theory.  Protestantism  and  Mohammedanism  stood  on 
the  same  ground  as  late  as  the  seventeenth  century 
of  our  era.  Our  present  condemnation  of  the  posi- 
tion of  Islam,  shows  how  far  we  have  advanced  in 
the  last  two  centuries  in  apprehending  the  true  nature 
of  the  New  Testament  Church. 

It  may  be  briefly  mentioned  here  that  the  recogni- 
tion of  a  single  supreme  code  has  not  prevented  divis- 
ions among  Mohammedans  any  more  than  it  pre- 
vented them  among  Jews  and  Christians.  The  point 
at  which  the  most  bitter  conflict  arose,  was  this  very 
one  of  the  divine  right  of  the  ruler.  Concerning  Mo- 
hammed himself,  of  course,  there  never  was  any  doubt. 
But  he  made  no  provision  for  a  successor.  It  seems 
strange  to  us  that  he  failed  to  regulate  so  important 
a  matter.  But  he  was  as  shortsighted  as  the  rest  of 
us,  and  did  not  expect  death  to  come  so  soon.  Pos- 
sibly he  expected  to  see  the  Judgment  come  before 
his  death ;  or  he  may  have  relied  on  God  to  give  him 
a  long  life.  The  fact  remains.  The  neglect  was  the 
more   remarkable  in  that  the  Prophet  left  no  male 

*  Si'luifT,  Creeds  of  Christendor/i^  III.,  p.  053. 


310  TUB  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

children.  In  the  emergency  which  actually  arose, 
Abu  Bekr,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  trusted  of  the 
Companions,  was  made  Successor  by  a  vote  of  ac- 
clamation, led  by  the  firm  and  clear-minded  Omar. 
It  is  evident  that  here  is  a  precedent  for  popular  elec- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  Ali,  the  son-in-law  (and 
adopted  son)  of  Mohammed,  seems  to  have  held  from 
the  first  that  the  principle  of  inheritance  should  ob- 
tain. When  he  himself  came  to  the  Caliphate,  three 
distinct  parties  arose.  One  held  that  the  throne 
should  go,  according  to  old  Arab  custom,  to  the  rec- 
ognized Sheikh  of  the  Koreish  (the  clan  of  the 
Prophet).  Another  held  strictly  to  the  principle  of 
legitimacy,  believing  that  the  blood  of  Mohammed  in 
his  descendants  (the  children  of  Ali  and  Fatima)  gave 
the  only  claim.  A  third  was  democratic,  demanding 
an  election  by  the  whole  body  of  true  believers.  It 
increases  our  sense  of  the  importance  of  ideas  to  see 
how  bitterly  the  adherents  of  these  three  views  con- 
tended with  each  other  for  decades,  making  a  record 
of  bloodshed  and  suffering  which  has  not  been  sur- 
passed in  the  annals  of  the  race.*^  In  this  conflict 
there  are  traces  of  Christian  ideas  amonoj  the  lietero- 
dox  sects.  They  adopted  the  Messianic  hope,  and  they 
regarded  Ali  and  his  legitimate  followers  as  incarna- 
tions of  the  Godhead.  The  party  which  finally 
triumphed  in  the  Caliphatef  adopted  substantially 
Old  Testament  ground.     According  to  them  the  ruler 

*  On  this  subject  cf.  Brunno'.v,  Die  CharidscMten  (1884);  De 
Sacy,  Histoire  des  Druses,  I.,  p.  xxvii.  ;  Kremer,  GescMchte  der 
Uerrschenden  Ideen  des  Islam^  p.  409. 

t  The  Shiites,  or  partisans  of  Ali,  retained  possession  of  Persia. 


GUURCU  AND  STATE  311 

should  be  tlie  defender  of  the  faith,  and  should  sup- 
press heresy  ;  he  should  judge  the  people,  protect  the 
public  peace,  punish  e\dl-doers,  make  war  on  the  infi- 
dels, collect  and  disburse  the  taxes,  and  appoint  tiTist- 
worthy  and  coropetent  officers.  These  qualifications 
are  much  the  same  which  would  have  been  named  by 
an  Old  Testament  prophet.  Should  the  ruler  fail  in 
these,  the  people  have  a  right  to  depose  him — which 
again  reminds  us  of  the  Old  Testament  principle,  as 
illustrated  by  the  freedom  with  which  the  elders  of 
Israel  assert  themselves  in  the  presence  of  Jeroboam, 
or  the  boldness  with  which  Elisha  commissions  Jehu 
to  depose  and  succeed  the  reigning  monarch  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom.  But  these  parallels  are  the 
result  of  similar  conditions  rather  than  of  direct  in- 
fluence. 

The  question  of  government  is  closely  connected 
with  the  question  of  property.  Especially  w^here  relig- 
ion is  the  basis  of  government,  we  expect  some  reg- 
ulation of  property.  In  any  monotheistic  religion 
God  is,  of  course,  the  ultimate  owner  of  everything, 
and  all  human  holders  get  their  title  from  Him. 
Where  the  religion  emphasizes  the  brotherhood  of 
believers,  we  have  additional  reason  to  look  for  some 
enactment  concerning  property.  In  the  case  of  Islam 
we  find,  on  the  whole,  a  conservative  position  taken. 
It  has  indeed  been  supposed  of  late  that  Mohammed 
came  forward  as  a  social  reformer,  and  that  his  first 
preaching  urged  a  state  tax  to  be  paid  by  the  rich  for 
the  support  of  the  poor.  This  he  tried  to  enforce  (on 
this  theory)  by  his  threat  of  the  Judgment  Day. 
But  if  what  has  already  been  said  in  these  lectures  bo 


312  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

true,  this  theory  just  inverts  the  order  of  ideas.  The 
idea  of  the  Judgment  is  an  idea  great  enough  to  en- 
force itself.  Mohammed's  mind  was  impressed  with 
this  idea  first.  With  it  he  had  a  realizing  sense  of 
the  sin  of  men.  It  was  only  because  sins  of  property 
have  a  large  place  among  the  sins  of  men,  that  he 
was  impressed  by  them.  Because  of  their  prominence 
he  gives  them  proportionate  attention.  He  had,  of 
course,  great  sympathy  with  the  poor,  and  great  in- 
dignation at  oppression.  One  of  his  earliest  suras 
rebukes  the  wicked  in  this  way :  "  You  do  not  treat 
the  orphan  generously,  nor  do  you  incite  others 
to  feed  the  poor,  and  you  devour  inheritance  with 
greedy  appetite,  and  you  love  wealth  with  an  intense 
love."  *  Liberality  is  a  virtue,  avarice  is  a  sin ;  these 
are  his  axioms,  and  in  adopting  them  he  was  no  more 
socialistic  than  was  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  takes  the 
differences  between  men  to  be  part  of  the  divine  or- 
dering :  "  It  is  He  who  made  you  succeed  [former 
generations]  in  the  earth,  and  has  raised  some  of  you 
above  others  in  rank  that  He  may  try  you  by  what 
He  has  given  you."t  The  matter  of  wealth  or  riches, 
however,  is  comparatively  unimportant ;  the  present 
world  and  its  possessions  are  only  fleeting.  The  real 
wealth  is  yonder.  In  all  this  he  took  the  religious, 
and  not  the  socialistic,  view. 

What  roused  his  indignation  was  injustice  and  op- 
pression, and  the  most  of  his  laws  concerning  prop- 
erty were  directed  against  these.  We  find,  therefore, 
stringent  injunctions  designed  to  protect  the  orphan. 
From  the  same  point  of  view  we  understand  the  pro- 

*  Koran  8918  ff.  ^^les. 


CHURGU  AND  STATE  313 

hibition  of  usury.  That  a  man  who  loaned  another 
money  should  get  back  twice  as  much,  seemed  to  him 
the  use  of  a  false  weight  and  measure.  He  does  not 
denounce  those  who  have  wealth,  but  those  who  get 
it  wrongfully.  He  does  not  advocate  lavish  benefi- 
cence. He  describes  the  good  man  as  the  one  who 
in  his  expenditure  is  neither  niggardly  nor  lavish.  In 
all  this  we  discover  no  social  revolution. 

That  he  who  has  should  be  ready  to  help  him  who 
has  not,  is,  of  course,  one  of  the  elementary  truths  of 
his  religion.  But  it  does  not  seem  that  the  tax  which 
was  assessed  upon  the  well-to-do,  was  based  upon  this 
duty.  It  was  rather  a  recognition  of  God's  right.  It 
in  called  a  purification,  and  the  name  would  indicate 
the  view  taken  in  the  Old  Testament — that  the  prop- 
erty cannot  be  lawfully  used  until  it  is  consecrated 
by  giving  a  portion  to  God.  This  portion,  like  the 
tithe  of  Deuteronomy,  belonged  to  God,  and,  like  that, 
it  was  given  by  God  to  the  poor,  the  stranger,  the 
fatherless  and  the  widow."*  This  afterward  became 
among  the  Moslems  a  regular  state  tax  which  came 
into  the  public  treasury,  just  as  in  the  later  legis- 
lation in  Israel  the  tithe  became  a  regular  provision 
for  the  support  of  the  priesthood.  But  Mohammed 
had  no  idea  of  a  state  treasury,  and  his  tax  was  in- 
tended for  the  support  of  the  poor.  In  some  cases 
it  was  sent  to  him  to  distribute ;  in  others  he  allowed 
each  tribe  to  assess  it  upon  its  own  wealthy  men 
and  distribute  it  to  its  own  poor.  In  the  whole  ar- 
rangement he  stands  very  much  upon  the  ground  of 
early  Israel. 

*  Dout.  14^8. 


CONCLUSION 

In  reviewing  what  has  been  said  in  these  lectures 
we  form  a  tolerably  clear  conception  of  the  forces 
which  have  made  Islam.  In  the  first  place,  we  must 
suppose  that  Mohammed  was  a  religious  nature — 
capable  of  appreciating  religious  truth  and  of  apply- 
ino-  it  to  himself.  For  religious  truth  is  only  ade- 
quately apprehended  when  it  is  made  practical.  This 
does  not  mean  that  Mohammed  was  morally  perfect. 
He  was  not  free  from  the  defects  of  his  age  and 
of  his  race.  He  was  not  incapable  of  self-decep- 
tion—  possibly  not  incapable  of  deceiving  others. 
But  he  had  the  religious  impulse,  and  when  he 
came  in  contact  with  the  truths  of  Christianity,  they 
burned  in  his  soul.  This  v/as  the  spark  which  set 
Arabia  on  fire. 

I  have  said  that  it  was  when  he  came  in  contact 
with  the  truths  of  Christianity  that  his  soul  was  fired. 
It  is  commonly  supposed  that  his  impulse  was  Jew- 
ish rather  than  Christian  ;  and  his  system  does,  in 
fact,  more  nearly  resemble  Judaism  than  it  resembles 
Protestant  Christianity.  But  we  shall  be  guilty  of 
an  anachronism  if  we  make  this  comjDarison.  The 
Christianity  with  which  Mohammed  came  in  contact 
was  the  Christianity  of  Arabia  or  Mesopotamia  in  the 
seventh  century.     Its   type  v/as,  no  doubt,  that   of 

^314 


CONCLUSION  315 

primitive  Ebionism  rather  than  that  even  of  Byzan- 
tine orthodoxy.  The  fact  that  Mohammed  took  so 
large  a  part  of  his  material  from  the  Old  Testament 
does  not  disprove  this.  The  Old  Testament  was  a 
part  of  the  Church's  Bible  from  the  first — for  a  time 
it  was  the  Church's  only  Bible.  The  narratives 
which  we  find  in  the  Koran  are  from  that  part  of  the 
Old  Testament  which  is  familiar  to  every  child  even 
among  us.  They  would  be  equally  familiar  to  the 
early  Christians  for  the  same  reason.  Adam  and 
Noah  and  Abraham  and  Moses  are  Christian  saints 
quite  as  distinctly  as  they  are  Jewish  patriarchs. 

And  if  we  find  no  reason  why  Mohammed  should 
not  take  these  from  a  Christian  source,  we  do  find 
things  which  he  could  not  have  got  from  a  Jewish 
source.  His  description  of  the  Judgment  shows  feat- 
ures borrowed  from  the  Gospel  account.  He  recog- 
nized Jesus  as  a  prophet  and  one  of  the  chiefest  of 
them — this  could  not  have  come  from  the  Jews,  to 
whom  Jesus  was  the  arch  traitor,  the  detested  one 
who  hung  upon  the  accursed  cross.  Putting  these 
two  considerations  together  with  some  minor  indica- 
tions (all  the  more  weighty  because  they  are  indirect) 
we  need  have  no  hesitation  in  concluding  that  the 
impulse  came  from  Christianity. 

But,  as  we  have  had  occasion  to  remark,  the 
Prophet  of  Arabia  was  not  able  to  assimilate  the 
most  spiritual  part  of  the  Christianity  of  the  New 
Testament.  It  was  not  fairly  presented  to  him,  for 
one  tiling.  "What  is  transferred  in  reliction  is  not  the 
pure  source,  but  a  tradition  colored  by  individual  ex- 
perience.    Think  of  a  Roman  Catholic  missionary — 


31G  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

as  sincere,  as  devout,  and  as  intelligent  as  you  can 
imagine — think  of  liim  as  preaching  to  the  Moslems 
of  Baghdad.  Does  he  preach  the  simple  truths  of 
the  New  Testament,  or  does  he  preach  those  truths 
in  the  form  in  which  they  exist  in  his  consciousness  ? 
You  cannot  doubt  that  he  will  preach  a  tradition— a 
tradition  in  whicli  is  much  of  truth,  but  a  tradition 
nevertheless.  Now  think  of  the  Baptist,  or  Method- 
ist, or  Episcopal  missionary,  is  not  the  same  thing 
true  to  some  degree  of  each  of  these  ?  But  if  this 
be  so  in  this  age  of  the  world,  we  cannot  find  it 
strange  that  Mohammed  received  from  the  humble 
Christians  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  something 
less  and  something  more  than  the  pure  Gospel.  On 
the  whole  it  is  rather  remarkable  that  he  received  so 
much  of  the  truth.  The  unity  of  God  ;  the  certainty 
of  judgment;  the  fact  of  revelation;  God's  will  to 
save  men  ;  the  appropriation  of  salvation  by  faith ; 
good  works  the  fruits  of  faith — these  doctrines  make 
up  no  small  x>art  of  our  religion.  And  these  he 
adopted  and  proclaimed.  That  he  presented  them 
in  his  own  form  is  only  what  we  should  expect. 

If  it  is  true  that  not  all  Christian  truths  were  pre- 
sented to  Mohammed  it  is  also  true  that  he  was  in- 
capable of  assimilating  some  doctrines  even  had  they 
been  presented  to  him.  The  chief  of  these  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity.  In  the  metaphysical  affirmations 
of  the  creed  of  Nicsea  concerning  substance  and  per- 
son, he  would  not  have  been  able  to  find  himself.  As 
for  the  Sonship  of  Christ,  we  have  already  seen  that 
this  was  coupled  in  his  mind  with  the  conceptions  of 
heathenism ;  while  the  idea  of  a  love  of  God  which 


CONCLUSION  317 

could  lead  to  an  incarnation  would  probably  have 
seemed  to  him  fanciful  and  extravagant.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement.  Sacrifice 
had  to  him  lost  its  propitiatoiy  sense — perhaps  be- 
cause it  was  ah'eady  a  meaningless  rite  in  Arabic 
heathenism. 

Concerning  these  doctrines,  which  have  so  large  a 
part  in  the  Christianity  that  we  know,  we  are  in  doubt 
whether  they  were  ever  fairly  presented  to  Mo- 
hammed, and  we  are  also  in  doubt  whether  he  could 
have  used  them  in  his  system  if  they  had  been  so  pre- 
sented. In  either  case  the  result  is  the  same.  His 
system  is  a  Judaistic  Christianity  adapted  to  Arabic 
conditions. 

But  even  in  this  imperfect  form  we  cannot  help 
admiring  in  Islam  the  power  of  the  truth.  It  cannot 
for  a  moment  be  denied  that  the  progress  of  Islam, 
which  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  history,  was  due  to 
many  causes.  It  was  not  the  truth  alone  which  tri- 
umphed, but  the  truth  in  alliance  with  all  worldly 
and  selfish  motives.  Islam  is  not  the  only  religion 
in  which  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil  have  fought 
on  the  side  of  the  truth,  but  for  their  own  ends.  Still, 
when  all  allowance  has  been  made,  we  see  that  the 
truth  in  Islam  has  been  a  power.  As  compared  with 
heathenism,  Islam  is  a  society  in  which  God  and 
righteousness  are  living  and  active  forces.  Everyone 
who  has  been  admitted  to  intimacy  with  Mohamme- 
dans will  testify  that  men  are  not  rare  among  them 
who  live  in  the  fear  of  God,  who  strive  to  do  His 
will,  and  whose  kindness  and  benevolence  are  the 
outworking  of  sincere  faith  in  Him.     The  hold  of  Is- 


318  THE  BIBLE  AND  ISLAM 

lam  ou  its  adherents  is  because  it  has  so  much  of  the 
truth. 

This  is  the  excellence  of  Islam.  It  was  a  great  ad- 
vance on  the  heathenism  which  it  displaced.  We 
cannot  doubt  that  even  now  it  carries  into  the  heart 
of  Africa  a  civilization  and  a  morality  that  are  an  im- 
mense advance  on  the  fetishism  in  which  the  degraded 
negroes  welter. 

But  with  its  excellence  in  bringing  men  one  step  in 
advance,  we  must  contrast  the  tenacity  with  which  it 
restrains  them  from  taking  another.  It  is  like  iron 
in  the  conservatism  with  which  it  holds  its  system 
against  every  attempt  at  change.  Its  formalism,  its 
scholasticism,  its  unchangeable  law  embodied  in  a 
completed  code — these  shut  up  its  conscientious  ad- 
herents to  medisevalism  as  their  ideal.  There  can  be 
no  real  liberty  and  no  real  progress  where  a  scholastic 
system  has  thus  intrenched  itself.  The  position  of 
Christians  in  the  Turkish  Empire  throws  a  lurid  light 
upon  this  truth.  Again  and  again  has  European 
pressure,  aided  by  a  few  educated  Turks,  endeavored 
to  secure  equality  before  the  laws  for  all  subjects  of 
the  Sublime  Porte.  But  as  often  as  the  attempt  is 
made  it  proves  a  failure — each  new  failure  more 
ghastly  than  the  last.  The  reason  is  that  the  con- 
science and  the  faith  of  the  most  sincere  and  upright 
Moslems  are  bound  up  with  the  Koran  and  its  sys- 
tem. You  cannot  introduce  a  reform  against  the 
conscience  and  against  the  faith  of  those  who  must 
be  depended  upon  to  make  the  reform  operative. 
Before  Islam  can  be  reformed,  new  truth  must  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  its  heart  and  conscience.     Civ- 


CONCLUSION  319 

ilization  cannot  effect  tliis.  Eifles  and  ironclads,  tlie 
Cafe,  the  Theatre,  the  written  Constitution,  Repre- 
sentative Institutions — none  of  these  can  reach  below 
the  surface.  A  larger  truth,  a  deeper  religious  expe- 
rience, a  higher  life  than  the  one  supplied  by  their 
own  faith — this  must  be  brought  home  to  the  hearts 
of  these  believers  before  they  can  enter  into  the 
larger  liberty  which  we  enjoy. 


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